r 


i, 


BELLE  SCOTT; 


OK, 


LIBERTY    OVERTHROWN 


By  oppression's  woes  and  pains! 
By  our  sous  in  servile  chains  ! 
We  will  drain  our  dearest  veins, 
But  they  shall  be  free  ! 

BURNS. 


COLUMBUS: 
D.      ANDERSON 

C  I  N  C  I  X  N  A  T  I  : 
GEO.    S.    BLANCHARD. 

1856. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1856,  by 

D.     ANDERSON, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court,  for  the  Southern 
District  of  Ohio. 


E.    MOROAJI    fc     SONS. 
Stereotype™,  Printers,  and  Publithers, 

WO.  Ill  M.UX  STRUT,  CIXCIKXATJ,  O. 


BELLE     SCOTT, 


CHAPTER     I. 

IN  the  autumn  of  the  year  1852,  a  young  man 
about  twenty-five  years  of  age,  was  seated  in 
front  of  a  boarding-house,  in  an  obscure  street  in 
New  Orleans.  The  smoke  from  his  cigar  rose  in 
curls  above  his  head,  while  he  seemed  to  be 
quietly  enjoying  the  cool  evening,  and  resting 
from  the  labors  of  the  day.  Edgar  Reed  was  a 
journeyman  printer,  who  for  greater  profit  in  his 
trade,  had  recently  come  from  New  York.  A  tall 
gentleman,  about  sixty  years  of  age,  who  limped 
a  little  as  he  walked,  took  a  seat  by  him. 

"  And  so,"  said  Mr.  Carter  to  Mr.  Reed,  "you 
have  not  only  made  up  your  mind  to  go  on  your 
hunting  excursion,  but  have  got  all  ready  to 
start!" 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Reed,  "  I  believe  all  is  at  last 
ready.  We  have  laid  in  a  full  supply  of  powder, 


$  BELLE   SCOTT. 

lead,  and  caps;  we  have  good  rifles  and  a  tent ; 
and  provisions  enough  to  last  us  a  month." 

"  I  dare  say,"  said  Captain  Carter,  "  that  you 
have  powder  and  lead  enough  to  kill  all  the  deer 
you  will  iiud ;  and  as  much  baggage  as  old  trav 
elers  would  start  with  on  a  journey  round  the 
world  ;  that 's  the  way  you  young  folks  do  ;  but 
it's  no  matter — when  you  get  older  you  will  be 
wiser.'1 

"  I  think,"  said  Mr.  Reed,  "  we  had  better  take 
too  much  than  too  little,  for  if  we  shall  want  any 
thing  in  the  place  to  which  we  are  going,  we  can 
not  get  it.  You  once  had  the  kindness  to  give 
me  some  lessons  on  the  art  of  hunting  deer ;  please 
repeat  them;  you  are  an  experienced  hunter. 
I  never  shot  at  a  deer  in  my  life." 

"  It's  all  very  simple,"  replied  Captain  Carter ; 
"  when  the  Mississippi  rises  so  as  to  overflow  the 
country,  which  it  sometimes  does  in  places,  for 
many  miles  on  both  its  sides,  the  deer,  and  other 
game  are  driven  to  the  high  points  of  land  : 
they  stay  there  in  herds,  and  of  course  fall  an 
easy  prey  to  the  hunter.  The  river  is  now  up, 
and  the  place  you  are  going  to  is  the  very  best 
that  I  know  of.  You  will  find  the  bucks  on  the 
highest  points  of  land ;  the  does  and  fawns  shel 
ter  and  hide  themselves  behind  logs  and  fallen 
trees.  At  other  times  vou  will  find  the  deer  in 


PREPARATION    FOR    A    HUNT.  9 

thickets ;  they  always  choose  such  as  conceal 
them  best.  When  you  come  across  a  deer,  you 
must  be  cool.  If  your  hand  shakes  at  all,  as 
you  raise  your  rifle,  put  it  down  and  don't  at 
tempt  to  fire,  till  you  get  as  careless  as  if  you 
were  about  to  shoot  at  an  apple  on  a  tree. 
Better  let  the  deer  go,  without  a  shot  at  it,  than 
to  shoot  and  miss.  Don't  get  too  close ;  you 
will  kill  oftener  at  seventy-five  yards,  than  at 
fifty;  because  at  fifty,  you  will  be  too  confident 
and  miss  your  aim.  When  you  are  ready,  point 
your  rifle  down  to  the  fore-foot  of  the  deer  and 
raise  slowly  till  you  get  it  ranged  with  the  breast 
of  the  animal;  then  move  it  about  an  inch  or 
two  back ;  hold  it  firmly,  fire,  and  the  game  will 
be  yours." 

"  Thank  you,  captain,  I'll  follow  your  directions 
to  the  letter,  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  I  will 
succeed." 

"  How  long  will  you  be  gone  ?  and  who  goes 
with  you  ?  " 

"I  intend  to  be  absent  two  weeks.  I  cannot 
afford  to  lose  more  time,  and  could  not  go  at  all, 
unless  with  the  confident  hope  that  the  profits  I 
shall  make  from  my  game  will  be  equal  at  least 
to  my  earnings  if  I  staid  here.  Mr.  Patterson 
goes  with  me.  I  am  tired  of  hard  work,  and  wish 
some  rest  and  change  of  scene  and  occupation." 


10  BELLE   SCOTT. 

"As  for  your  profits,"  said  Captain  Carter, 
"  unless  you  are  more  successful  than  I  have  ever 
been,  you  will  find  the  balance  on  the  wrong  side 
of  the  account.  I  have  gone  on  a  dozen  such 
trips,  and  so  it  has  always  been  with  me.  But 
go  by  all  means,  whether  you  make  or  lose  money 
by  it :  your  health  will  be  improved,  and  in  every 
other  respect  you  will  be  the  gainer;  but  it  is 
eleven  o'clock ;  good  night." 

"Good  night,  Captain  Carter,  we  shall  hear 
from  you  again." 


CHAPTER    II. 


EDGAR    KEED. 

MR.  PATTERSON  called  on  Edgar  the  next  day, 
and  informed  him  that  his  mother  had  been  taken 
dangerously  ill ;  of  course  he  could  not  leave  her. 
With  the  exception  of  his  rifle,  he  presented  to  him 
his  share  of  the  whole  outfit,  and  Mr.  Reed,  having 
all  things  in  readiness,  determined  to  go  alone.  He 
soon  found  a  steamboat,  and  was  on  board  with  all 
his  equipage,  and  ascending  the  Mississippi. 

Late  in  the  evening  of  the  following  day,  the 
boat  reached  the  point  at  which  he  was  to  land. 
Rain  was  falling,  and  the  night  was  dark.  An 
officer  of  the  boat  had  promised  to  make  arrange 
ments  for  him  with  the  keeper  of  the  wood-yard. 
His  baggage  and  himself  were  soon  put  ashore. 
A  brief  conversation  took  place  between  the  clerk 
of  the  boat,  and  Mr.  Talbot,  the  owner  of  the 
wood-yard;  and  Edgar  was  committed  to  his 
care.  He  was  conducted  into  a  hut,  in  which 
were  only  two  chairs,  a  rude  bench,  and  table. 
His  host  was  covered  with  a  jacket,  made  of  green 
flannel,  that  reached  nearly  to  his  knees ;  he  had 

(113 


12  BELLE   SCOTT. 

on  his  neck  a  kerchief  with  red  and  yellow 
bars ;  and  a  great  number  of  keys  and  seals  hung 
at  the  end  of  his  heavy  watch-chain.  His  move 
ments,  and  air  of  self-reliance  showed  him  to  be 
one  accustomed  to  command.  Two  surly-looking 
negro  men  came  to  the  hut,  on  the  floor  of  which, 
without  bed  or  covering,  lay  four  other  negro  men : 
a  rifle  stood  in  a  corner  of  the  room,  and  the  stock 
of  a  revolver  stood  out  of  one  of  the  large  pockets 
of  Talbot. 

"  Anything  new  in  New  Orleans,  sir  ?  "  said  he 
to  Edgar,  who  for  reply  handed  him  a  roll  of 
newspapers.  He  began  to  read  them  by  the 
light  of  his  lantern.  After  some  time,  he  gave 
directions  to  the  two  men  who  were  awake  to 
prepare  a  bed  for  Edgar,  by  arranging  the  tent, 
and  other  materials  he  had  brought  with  him. 
In  a  few  minutes  Edgar  was  asleep,  leaving  Talbot 
still  reading  the  newspapers. 

After  breakfast,  the  next  day,  Talbot  directed 
four  of  the  men,  to  get  a  boat  and  take  Edgar  and 
his  baggage  to  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and 
about  three  miles  below  the  wood-yard ;  to  provide 
him  with  wood,  and  put  up  his  tent. 

The  boat  was  soon  at  the  place.  The  men  had 
often  been  there  with  other  hunters,  and  knew 
better  than  Edgar,  what  was  wanted  for  his  com 
fort.  They  put  up  his  tent  on  the  highest  point 


THE  HUNTER'S  TENT.  13 

of  land,  and  near  the  river,  placed  in  it  shelves 
made  with  boards  which  they  brought  with  them, 
and  provided  him  with  fire-wood  ready  for  use. 

They  cut  down  a  cedar  tree,  and  piled  up 'part 
of  the  tender  branches  in  his  tent,  on  which  they 
placed  his  mattress;  and  covered  the  whole  tent 
with  the  branches  of  the  tree  so  thickly,  that, 
except  in  front,  no  part  of  the  canvas  could  be 
seen.  They  then  made  a  pile  of  brushwood,  on  a 
point  near  the  place  where  they  had  landed,  and 
told  him  to  set  fire  to  it,  as  a  signal,  when  he 
wanted  them  to  come  and  take  him  off;  or  when, 
for  any  purpose,  he  desired  their  attention.  Ed 
gar  gave  them  each  a  small  sum  of  money,  in  ad 
dition  to  the  compensation  for  their  services  that 
he  had  paid  to  Talbot ;  and  they  left  him. 

His  first  care,  after  their  departure,  was  to  place 
everything  in  order.  His  cooking  utensils  were 

*/ 

arranged  on  one  shelf;  his  rifle,  bullet-moulds, 
and  lead,  on  another;  his  books,  pamphlets,  and 
papers,  on  still  another ;  and  in  a  safe  place,  in  a 
corner  of  his  tent,  he  put  his  canister  of  gunpow 
der.  These  preparations  kept  him  busy  till  nearly 
the  middle  of  the  afternoon :  then,  after  cooking 
and  eating  his  dinner,  he  dressed  himself  in  his 
hunting  gear,  and  started  out,  first  to  make  an 
examination  of  his  island.  It  was  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Mississippi  river ;  at  its  highest  point, 


14  BELLE   SCOTT. 

the  ground  was  not  more  than  eight  or  ten  feet 
above  the  surrounding  waters.  It  was  about  three 
miles  long,  and  half  a  mile  wide,  and  irregular  in 
shape :  a  small  island  that  contained  not  more 
than  an  acre  of  land,  was  separated  from  the  larger 
one,  on  which  Edgar  was,  by  a  deep  and  narrow 
stream.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  open  spaces 
of  small  size,  the  larger  island  was  covered  with 
forest  trees;  sycamore,  magnolia,  cotton-wood, 
poplar,  and  cypress,  upon  which  gray  moss  hung 
down  nearly  to  the  ground.  Everywhere,  were 
fallen  trees,  and  half-decayed  logs,  and  a  thick 
undergrowth  of  shrubs.  On  the  west  and  south 
sides,  the  Mississippi  rolled  its  flood  of  turbid 
waters:  on  the  other  sides,  the  water  extended 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach ;  and  standing 
thickly  in  it,  were  large  moss-covered  trees,  and 
bushes  like  those  on  the  island. 

It  was  night  when  he  returned,  wearied  with 
the  labor  of  the  day.  He  prepared  his  supper, 
closed  his  tent,  and  slept  soundly. 


CHAPTER    III. 


THE   HUNTEE. 


EARLY  the  next  morning,  our  hunter  was  awa 
kened  by  the  chattering  of  hundreds  of  birds. 
The  day  so  long  wished  for,  from  his  early  boy 
hood — so  long  the  subject  of  his  waking  dreams — 
now  beamed  in  the  full  brightness  of  early  sun 
rise  upon  him. 

After  breakfast,  he  carefully  dressed  himself  in 
his  hunting  clothing:  his  feet  and  limbs  were 
covered  to  his  knees  with  thick  boots,  to  protect 
him  from  the  bite  of  rattlesnakes  ;  he  had  a  blue 
cloth  cap  on  his  head,  from  the  center  of  which,  a 
tassel  hung  gracefully;  and  a  closely -fitting  jacket, 
protected  him  from  the  chilly  air  of  morning. 
With  his  powder  flask  and  bullet  sack  suspended 
from  his  neck,  and  his  rifle  on  his  arm,  he  was 
now  ready. 

He  had  not  been  from  his  tent  an  hour,  before 
he  saw  through  the  bushes,  a  fine  deer.  He 
thought  of  all  the  instructions  Captain  Carter  had 
given  him,  took  slow  and  deliberate  aim  and 
fired.  The  deer  bounded  unhurt  away ;  the  forest 

OM 


16  BELLE   SCOTT. 

echoed  the  sound  of  his  rifle ;  and  the  island,  so 
still  before,  seemed  to  be  now  alive  with  animals.  In 
u  few  minutes  afterward  he  saw  another  deer,  and 
determined  to  be  still  more  careful.  He  fired, 
and  was  keenly  mortified  to  find  that  he  was  again 
unsuccessful.  He  then  wandered  through  the 
tangled  bushes,  and  over  fallen  trees  and  logs,  to 
the  furthest  end  of  the  island;  here  he  rested 
himself,  and  then  started  on  his  return.  He  had 
got  about  half  way  to  his  tent,  when  he  heard  a 
slight  rustling  among  the  fallen  leaves,  and  care 
fully  looking  in  the  direction  from  which  the 
sound  came,  he  saw  part  only,  and  but  a  small 
part  of  the  body  of  a  deer.  The  intervening 
branches  nearly  hid  the  animal  from  his  view. 
The  distance  seemed  too  great  for  the  reach  of 
his  rifle ;  but  he  was  now  half  careless,  and  kneel 
ing  on  one  knee,  he  took  deliberate  aim  and  fired. 
The  animal  leaped  high  into  the  air — rushed  with 
almost  lightning  speed  for  a  mile,  and  fell.  It  ran 
in  the  direction  of  the  tent,  and  when  Edgar  got 
to  it,  it  was  lying  on  its  side,  its  eyes  filled  with 
tears,  and  panting  for  breath.  He  carried,  or 
rather  dragged  it  to  his  tent.  His  sadness  was 
now  all  gone.  He  could  shoot  deer  as  well  as 
other  men,  and  needed  only  opportunity  and 
practice  to  make  him  a  successful  hunter. 

After  he  had  taken  good  care  of  his  game,  he 


AARON.  17 

started    out   again,    full   of  hope — confident    of 
success. 

He  had  not  gone  far  before  he  paused  and 
looked  around — then  passed  on  a  few  steps  and 
stopped  again.  He  was  almost  sure  that  he  heard 
some  one  calling  to  him,  and  after  listening  a 
short  time,  he  heard  distinctly  the  words  "Master, 
master,"  and  saw  a  negro  man  approaching  with  slow 
and  feeble  steps,  and  shaking  as  with  an  ague. 
His  person  was  covered  with  tattered  clothing, 
his  feet  with  greatly  worn  skins  of  wild  beasts 
bound  around  them  with  strips  of  bark.  His 
eyes  were  sunk  in  his  head,  his  hands  and  fingers 
long,  thin  and  bony — his  whole  appearance  showed 
disease  and  famine.  Edgar  was  shocked  at  the 
wretched  appearance  of  the  man,  and  still  more 
so,  when  he  said,  "  Master,  I  am  starving  to 
death,  please  give  me  something  to  eat."  He 
followed  Edgar  to  his  tent ;  food,  water,  and  the 
remains  of  the  coffee  Edgar  had  prepared  for  his 
breakfast,  were  speedily  given  him.  His  eyes 
sparkled  at  the  sight  of  the  food,  but  after  he  had 
tasted  it  he  became  sick,  arid  leaning  back  rested 
with  his  eyes  closed  against  a  post  of  the  tent. 
Edgar  prepared  for  him  a  cup  of  tea,  and  food 
better  suited  to  his  weak  condition ;  but  of  this 
also  he  took  but  little,  and  then  asked  permis- 


18  BELLE   SCOTT. 

sion  to  lay  himself  down  at  the  tent  door  before 
the  fire.  A  few  branches  of  the  cedar  tree  were 
placed  on  the  ground  and  covered  with  a  blanket ; 
a  pillow  was  brought,  the  fire  renewed,  and  the 
weak  and  weary  man  soon  sank  into  a  profound 
sleep;  he  continued  in  this  state  till  nearly  sun 
set,  and  then  got  up  refreshed  and  craving  for 
food.  He  was  now  able  to  eat  much  more  than 
before;  the  muscles  of  his  face  relaxed,  and 
he  was  certainly  better  and  stronger  than  he 
was  in  the  morning  —  still  a  wretched  cough 
harassed  him. 

Our  hunter  selected  from  his  wardrobe  a  full 
suit  of  his  clothes,  such  as  he  could  best  spare, 
and  directed  the  man  to  wash  himself  and  put 
them  on.  A  look,  at  first  searching  and  distrust 
ful  into  Edgar's  face,  and  then,  as  if  fully  assured, 
another  look  full  of  gratitude  and  surprise,  and 
a  hearty  "  thank  you,  master,  thank  you,  God 
bless  you,"  was  the  response,  and  the  reward  for 
this  kindness.  As  night  came  on  the  fire  was 
increased,  and  Edgar  and  the  stranger  were 
seated  by  it. 

"What  is  your  name  ?" 

"  My  name,  master,  is  Aaron — Aaron  Harper." 

"  Are  you  a  slave  ?" 

"  No,  master,  I  was  born  free ;  my  mother  and 


AARON.  1 9 

father  were  both  free ;  but  I  was  kidnapped  when 
1  was  a  little  boy  and  carried  away  and  have 
been  held  as  a  slave  ever  since." 

"  Why  are  you  here  ?" 

"  Master,  I  will  tell  you  the  truth.  I  ran  away 
and  was  trying  to  get  to  Canada  with  my  child. 
She  is  dead  now,  and  I  don't  care  whether  I  am 
free  or  not.  I  know  I  will  die  soon.  I  am  worth 
nothing  to  any  man.  My  poor,  old,  worn-out 
body  would  not  bring  a  dollar  on  the  auction 
block.  I  was  near  this  place  when  the  river  rose, 
and  I  have  been  compelled  to  come  here  to  get 
out  of  the  way  of  the  water ;  I  could  find  but  few 
roots  to  live  on ;  and  as  for  game — though  there 
is  plenty  of  it,  I  am  too  weak  to  get  it.  I  heard  a 
rifle-shot  this  morning  and  started  to  find  the 
hunter ;  of  course  without  knowing  whether  he 
would  be  a  friend  or  a  foe ;  and  in  this  way  I 
have  met  you."  While  he  was  speaking,  his  voice 
was  low,  composed,  and  respectful. 

Although  our  hunter  was  kind  and  hospitable, 
yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  this  visit  afforded  him 
no  pleasure.  To  leave  New  Orleans  with  high 
hopes  of  a  brilliant  hunting  campaign — to  be  upon 
the  ground,  and  then  to  have  on  his  hands  a 
sick  negro  to  nurse,  caused  him  no  little  vexation. 
But  what  could  he  do  ?  The  man  was  hungry — 
how  could  he  refuse  him  food  already  prepared, 


20  BELLE    SCOTT. 

and  of  which  he  had  more  than  he  needed !  He 
was  sick  and  wanted  shelter — how  could  he  refuse 
him  a  place  to  warm  himself  by  his  fire !  There 
was  a  struggle  in  Edgar's  mind  between  his  pride 
and  his  humanity ;  but  he  was  young,  generous 
and  hopeful ;  and  humanity,  of  course,  conquered 
all  meaner  feelings.  It  is  difficult  to  blame  him 
for  these  first  impulses.  He  had  his  birth  and 
education  in  a  state  in  which  there  were  but  few 
people  of  color ;  and  although  he  had  seen  a  great 
many  of  them  at  New  Orleans  and  other  places, 
after  he  became  of  age,  yet  he  knew  but  little 
about  them. 

After  two  days,  the  appearance  of  his  guest  had 
greatly  improved.  The  deadly  pallor  had  left  his 
skin  and  it  put  on  a  more  healthy  look.  He  was 
more  cheerful  and  active  ;  and  he  performed  many 
little  offices  about  the  tent  by  which  he  became 
useful.  He  cooked  the  food — kept  up  the  fire — 
dressed  the  deer  killed — aided  greatly  in  car 
rying  them  to  the  tent,  and  always  kept  watch 
when  the  hunter  was  absent.  Edgar  conversed 
more  frequently  with  him,  and  found  day  by  day 
that  his  prejudices  were  wearing  away,  and  that 
his  guest,  instead  of  being,  as  he  at  first  supposed 
him,  but  little  better  than  a  beast,  was  a  modest, 
sensible,  intelligent,  and  grateful  man. 

It  was  now  Sunday — our  hunter  laid  aside  his 


AARON.  2] 

hunting  dress,  and  prepared  himself  to  pass  the 
day  in  his  tent.  After  breakfast  he  opened  a 
trunk  and  took  out  a  number  of  books.  He  was 
surprised  to  find  that  Aaron  took  from  his  bosom 
an  old  book  with  its  cover  all  black  with  constant 
use.  Both  sat  down  and  read,  but  Aaron  read 
slowly  and  with  difficulty ;  Edgar  found  that  he 
was  reading  a  Bible,  the  print  of  which  was  too 
fine  for  his  dimmed  sight.  He  went  to  his  trunk 
and  from  the  bottom  of  it  took  out  a  larger  Bible, 
sat  down  and  said,  "Let  me  read  awhile  to  you." 

"  Thank  you,  master,  thank  you.  It  will  be  a 
great  favor.  My  eyesight  is  so  bad  that  I  hardly 
know  what  I  am  reading.  My  book  is  an  old  one. 
T  have  taken  as  good  care  of  it  as  I  could,  but  it 
is  soiled  and  worn." 

"What  shall  I  read?" 

"Read,  if  you  please,  the  41st  Psalm,  master." 
Edgar  turned  and  read  :  "  Blessed  is  he  that  con- 
sidereth  the  poor;  the  Lord  will  deliver  him  in 
time  of  trouble.  The  Lord  will  preserve  him 
and  keep  him  alive,  and  he  shall  be  blessed  upon 
the  earth,  and  thou  wilt  not  deliver  him  unto  the 
will  of  his  enemies.  The  Lord  will  strengthen 
him  upon  the  bed  of  languishing  :  thou  wilt  make 
all  his  bed  in  his  sickness." 

As  soon  as  he  had  read  it,  Aaron  said,  "Master, 
I  am  poor ;  T  have  worked  hard  all  my  days  and 

2 


22  BELLE    SCOTT. 

have  no  land,  nor  house,  nor  food,  nor  clothing, 
only  what  you  have  given  me.  When  I  die,  there  is 
not  a  foot  of  ground  that  can  be  claimed  as  mine  to 
lay  my  body  in.  I  had  no  right,  it  was  said,  even 
to  take  care  of  my  own  child  while  she  was  alive. 
Another  man  claimed  my  own  body  and  mind,  as 
his  property.  Surely,  if  there  is  in  the  whole 
world  a  poor  man,  I  am  poor ;  and  you  have  re 
membered  me ;  you  have  taken  care  of  me  and 
given  me  clothes,  and  food,  and  shelter.  Now 
the  Bible  is  true,  and  God  is  true.  He  will  bless 
you.  I  don't  know  how  he  will  do  it ;  but  He 
will  bless  you.  He  will  make  your  bed  when  you 
are  sick ;  He  will  keep  you  from  the  power  of 
your  enemies."  You  will  be  blessed  upon  the 
earth.  The  Lord  will  deliver  you  in  time  of 
trouble,  and  preserve  you  and  keep  you  alive. 
After  this  they  were  silent  for  a  few  minutes,  and 
Edgar  handed  his  Bible  to  Aaron  and  walked 
slowly  into  the  forest. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


JOHN    SCOTT,    ESQ. 

A  FEW  miles  from  New  Orleans  was  an  old- 
fashioned  house,  two  stories  high,  surrounded  by 
forest  trees.  An  avenue  led  from  a  gate,  on  the 
east  side  of  the  dwelling,  to  the  door.  Orange 
trees  were  scattered  over  the  lawn,  and  rose 
bushes,  part  of  which  were  in  bloom.  The  paint 
on  the  house  had  faded ;  and  the  roof  was  half- 
overgrown  with  moss.  The  avenue  was  covered 
with  sea-shells,  broken  into  fragments,  but  still 
white.  A  shower  had  fallen,  and  flowers,  fruits, 
and  the  melody  of  birds  filled  the  air  with  fra 
grance  and  music. 

The  front  door  opened  into  a  hall,  on  each  side 
of  which  were  large  rooms,  with  low  ceilings,  and 
small  windows.  In  one  room,  packages,  books  and 
papers,  lay  on  the  chairs,  tables,  and  carpet,  which 
two  black  women  and  a  mulatto  boy,  under  the 
direction  of  a  young  lady,  were  placing  in  trunks. 

The  steps  of  a  gentleman  were  heard  upon  the 
porch,  rapidly  walking  toward  the  room.  As  he 
entered,  he  said,  "  What !  Mary,  not  ready  yet  ? 

(23) 


24  BELLE   SCOTT. 

The  boat  leaves  at  eight  o'clock  to-morrow  morn 
ing,  and  we  must  all  be  on  board  by  half  past 
seven  or  we  shall  be  left  for  a  week ;  no  other 
boat  fit  to  travel  in  will  go  up  the  river  sooner." 

"  Oh,  Papa,  I  am  so  tired ;  but  we  have  now 
only  to  put  these  things  in  the  trunks,  and  lock 
them  up;  in  an  hour  all  will  be  ready." 

The  gentleman  was  John  Scott,  Esq.,  the  owner 
of  the  plantation.  He  was  about  sixty  years  of 
age.  His  features  were  regular ;  his  eyes  keen, 
bright  and  gray ;  his  hands  and  feet  small ;  his 
lips  firmly  compressed.  He  had  marks  of  great 
activity  of  mind  and  body;  courage  and  perse 
verance. 

Mr.  Scott  had  just  left  the  room,  when  Mary 
said  to  the  boy,  "Run,  Jim,  and  see  who  is  corning? 
I  hear  a  carriage  in  the  avenue. 

Jim  returned  and  said,  "  Miss  Mary,  it 's  Mr. 
Eyes,  the  same  gentleman  that  was  here  yester 
day,  arid  that  comes  here  so  many  times." 

A  flush  passed  over  Mary's  face.  "  Mr.  Ives, 
Jim;  not  Mr.  Eyes."  The  two  colored  women 
looked  at  each  other  and  smiled. 

"  Run,  Jim,  said  Mary,  and  take  care  of  Mr. 
Ives'  horse." 

"  Shall  we  quit  packing  now,"  said  Sally,  one  of 
the  women,  looking  at  Mary  ? 

"  Why  no,  go  on  as  fast  as  you  can.     What  in 


MARV    SCOTT.  25 

the  world  will  you  stop  for  now,  with  these  things 
scattered  all  over  the  room  ?  You  really  must 
have  the  trunks  locked  in  an  hour,  or  papa  will 
be  displeased." 

"Well  Missis,"  said  Sally,  "it's  all  one  to  us, 
and  the  sooner  we  get  done  the  better." 

Mr.  Ives  entered  the  room,  and  Mary  ex 
claimed,  "  Why  were  you  not  here  sooner  ?  I  have 
been  looking  for  you  all  this  afternoon." 

"  Oh,  I  have  been  so  engaged  in  preparing  for 
my  journey.  I  have  had  all  the  business  of  my 
office  to  arrange  before  I  leave,  and  the  cases 
of  my  clients  to  look  after ;  but  I  have  got  all 
ready  now.  Are  you  ready  ?  " 

"Nearly  so;  in  another  hour  this  hard  work 
will  be  over.  I  am  so  glad  that  you  can  go  with 
us.  You  have,  of  course,  laid  in  a  store  of  books?" 
"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Ives,  "  I  have  more  than  wre 
shall  find  time  to  read,  even  if  we  shall  be  two 
months  from  home,  and  at  Richmond  we  can  get 
more." 

"  Do,"  said  Mary,  "  exert  yourself  to  the  utter 
most  to  cheer  my  father.  My  uncle  was,  as  you 
know,  the  only  relation  that  he  had,  out  of  his 
own  household.  Now  that  my  uncle  is  dead,  my 
father's  sorrows  have  greatly  increased.  You 
must  do  all  that  you  can  to -console  him." 

Mr.  Ives  said,  "T  will  do  so,  as  well  for  your 


t>6  BELLE    SCOTT. 

sake,  as  for  his.  It  is  strange  that  brothers  should 
be  foes  for  a  quarter  of  a  century ;  but  when  death 
conies,  the  feeling  of  brotherhood  renews  its  power; 
and  then  the  grief  is  more  poignant  than  if  they 
had  lived  in  affection.  These  old  Virginia  family 
feuds  have  imbittered  the  lives  of  hundreds  of 
excellent  persons,  who  might  otherwise  have  been 
as  happy  as  mortals  usually  are." 

"Well,"  said  Mary,  "  I  am  now  going  for  the  first 
time  out  of  my  native  state.  I  have  lived  so 
much  at  home,  that  I  do  not  know  how  I  shall 
feel  and  act  in  new  scenes,  and  amidst  strange 
associates.  I  half  regret  that  papa  insists  upon 
my  accompanying  him,  and  I  believe  I  would  beg 
to  be  excused  if  he  did  not  so  much  need  my  at 
tention.  You  have  been  to  Virginia,  have  you 
not?" 

"  I  have  never  been  further  north  than  Lex 
ington,  but  all  the  people  south  of  the  Potomac 
are  so  much  alike  in  their  manners,  thoughts,  and 
feelings,  that  we  shall  at  all  times  be  as  much  at 
home  as  if  we  were  in  New  Orleans.  Our  trip  will 
be  short.  There  are  no  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the 
speedy  settlement  of  your  uncle's  estate,  and  when 
that  shall  be  done  we  will  return,  and  then  my 
dear  Mary." 

Mary  colored,  but  a  smile  would  play  upon  her 
face,  in  spite  of  her  efforts  to  look  grave. 


MARY  SCOTT.  27 

Although  Henry  Ives  had  never  formally  pro 
posed  to  Mary,  still  they  were  affianced  lovers. 
The  eyes,  the  faces,  the  conduct  of  lovers  reveal 
their  hearts.  Mr.  Ives  was  a  lawyer  in  good  prac 
tice  ;  he  was  about  twenty-eight  years  of  age. 
His  brow  was  marked  by  hard  study ;  his  figure, 
slightly  bent,  was  slender  and  graceful.  At  one 
time  his  friends  thought  he  would  become  a  min 
ister;  but  although  he  had  studied  theology,  he 
remained  in  the  profession  for  which  he  had  been 
educated. 


CHAPTER    V. 


AARONS    NARRATIVE. 

OUR  hunter's  interest  in  his  guest,  increased 
daily,  as  he  became  better  acquainted  with  him. 
As  they  sat  by  the  fire,  in  front  of  the  tent,  in 
the  evening,  after  the  labors  of  the  day  were  over, 
he  from  time  to  time,  obtained  from  Aaron,  a 
history  of  his  life,  and  made  notes  of  such 
parts  of  it,  as  appeared  to  him  worth  remember 
ing  ;  correcting,  as  reporters  do,  some  inaccuracies 
in  the  style  of  the  speaker ;  while  he  endeavored, 
as  closely  as  possible,  to  preserve  the  narrative, 
as  he  heard  it.  This  was  written  in  short  hand, 
on  loose  pieces  of  paper,  at  intervals,  and  thrown 
into  a  trunk. 

"My  parents,"  said  Aaron,  "were  both  free. 
My  father  was  steward  on  a  ship  that  sailed  from 
Alexandria  to  the  West  Indies.  My  mother, 
who  had  four  children,  of  whom  I  was  the  eldest, 
in  the  absence  of  my  father,  maintained  her  family 
by  daily  labor.  When  T  was  seven  or  eight  years 
old,  a  Quaker  lady  took  me  into  her  service,  and 

fa u#ht  mo  to  read  and  write.     She  generally  took 
(28) 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  29 

me  into  a  room  up-stairs,  when  she  gave  me 
lessons.  She  told  me  not  to  let  any  person  know 
that  I  was  learning  to  read  and  write.  As  soon 
as  I  could  read  pretty  well,  and  write  a  little,  she 
took  another  colored  boy  in  my  place,  as  I  believe, 
for  the  purpose  of  teaching  him. 

"When  I  was  about  nine  years  old,  I  was  sent 
at  dusk,  by  my  mother,  to  a  public  pump ;  and 
while  there,  I  saw  a  group  of  persons  at  a  tavern, 
with  the  sign  of  a  black  bear,  across  the  street ;  I 
went  into  the  crowd ;  a  slave-trader  was  just 
starting  with  a  gang  of  slaves.  One  covered 
wagon,  was  nearly  filled  with  women  and  children. 
I  went  near  the  rear  of  the  wagon,  a  man 
picked  me  up,  and  threw  me  quickly  in  it ;  a  man 
in  the  wagon  seized  me,  put  a  handkerchief  over 
my  mouth,  and  tied  me  hand  and  foot.  He  told 
me,  if  I  made  any  noise  he  would  kill  me;  in 
another  minute  the  wagon  moved  off.  We  trav 
eled  all  night,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  next 
day,  which  I  remember  was  Sunday,  before  we 
stopped  even  to  feed  the  horses.  After  a  long 
journey,  during  which  I  was  allowed  to  walk  part 
of  the  time,  with  a  man  by  my  side  as  a  guard, 
we  came  to  what  I  now  know  to  be,  the  eastern 
part  of  Alabama.  Here  I  was  sold,  I  do  not 
know  for  how  much,  and  delivered  over  to  my 
master.  He,  too,  was  a  trader,  and  after  he  had 

3 


30  BELLE   SCOTT. 

kept  me  a  lew  months,  he  sold  me  to  Mr.  Thorn 
ton  Jones,  with  whom  I  lived  as  house  servant, 
until  I  was  about  twenty  years  of  age.  Mr.  Jones 
was  a  Methodist  class-leader ;  he  discovered  that 
I  could  read,  and  encouraged  me  to  do  so.  He 
gave  me  two  or  three  new  Bibles,  while  I  was  with 
him ;  and  often  exhorted  his  slaves  to  be  religious. 
It  was  his  constant  practice,  on  Sunday  mornings, 
to  gather  us  all  together ;  read  to  us  chapters  in 
the  Bible,  and  sing,  and  pray  with  us.  He  was 
generally  kind,  and  gave  his  slaves  as  much  food 
and  clothing,  as  the  best  masters  in  the  country 
gave  to  theirs.  All  seemed  to  be  going  on  pros 
perously  on  his  plantation,  till  one  day,  while  we 
were  hoeing  cotton,  two  men  came  into  the  field, 
stopped  all  the  hands,  and  said  we  were  levied 
on  by  the  sheriff  for  a  debt  of  Mr.  Jones.  We 
were  allowed  to  stay  on  the  plantation,  for  nearly 
a  month,  and  then  were  taken  to  the  court-house, 
and  put  in  jail.  Two  days  afterward,  we  were 
all  sold  at  auction,  by  the  sheriff.  I  was  bid  off 
at  eight  hundred  dollars,  by  Harvey  Willard ;  a 
gentleman  of  whom  I  had  never  heard  before. 
He  told  me,  he  would  be  a  good  master  to  me,  if 
I  would  be  an  obedient  slave  to  him.  This  I 
promised  him,  and  we  set  off  together  for  his 
home,  he  on  horseback,  and  I  by  his  side  on  foot. 
But  I  was  not  long  in  his  service.  He  was 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  31 

addicted  to  gaming,  and  one  night  took  me  to 
a  tavern  in  a  village,  near  his  plantation,  at 
which  he  met  several  other  planters.  He  drank 
a  great  deal  of  liquor  that  night,  and  lost  much 
money.  About  midnight  he  said,  his  cash  was 
all  gone ;  I  was  standing  at  his  back,  when  he 
turned  and  said,  'I  will  stake  this  boy  on  this 
game.'  The  game  went  on,  and  I  was  handed 
over  to  a  Mr.  Adams,  who  won  me.  He  took 
ine  in  a  few  days,  to  a  plantation  in  about  the 
middle  of  that  state.  I  lived  on  it  several 
years.  My  food  was  corn  bread,  with  a  little  meat 
once  a  week.  I  was  allowed  two  suits  of  cotton 
clothes,  one  straw  hat,  and  one  pair  of  shoes  a 
year.  His  overseers  were  generally  hard  drivers, 
and  made  large  crops.  Mr.  Adams  was  not  often 
on  the  plantation  on  which  I  lived.  His  home 
was  thirty  or  forty  miles  off.  Soon  after  I  went 
to  his  place,  I  married  a  woman  older  than  myself, 
who  had  one  child.  She  died  in  a  few  years, 
leaving  me  the  father  of  one  living  child ;  rny  own 
child  was  a  poor,  weak,  sickly  thing.  She  was 
what  people  call  broken-backed,  but  a  more  affec 
tionate  being  never  lived  on  earth :  she  would  sit 
watching  for  me  as  I  came  home  at  night  from 
the  field ;  spring  into  my  arms,  and  lean  her  little 
head  upon  my  shoulder,  and  show  by  other  tokens 
how  deeply  she  loved  me.  After  my  wife  died, 


32  BELLE    SCOTT. 

DO  one  but  my  daughter  lived  in  iny  cabin,  which 
was  at  some  distance  from  the  cabins  of  the  other 
slaves.  The  only  book  I  had  was  a  Bible,  and 
from  that  I  taught  her  to  read. 

"When  Lucy  was  about  six  years  old,  I  was 
seized  with  dread  that  I  should  be  sold,  and 
separated  from  her.  I  tried  to  get  rid  of  it,  but 
it  haunted  me.  1  dreamed  of  it  at  night,  and 
thought  so  much  of  it  by  day,  that  I  became  hag 
gard  and  care-worn.  I  knew  that  if  I  was  sepa 
rated  from  her,  she  would  die.  No  one  loved  or 
cared  for  her  but  myself.  She  was  of  no  value  to 
my  master.  The  children  called  her  bad  names, 
because  they  said,  she  was  ugly. 

"This  fear  kept  eating  into  my  heart,  till  I  could 
bear  it  no  longer ;  I  determined  to  run  off.  I 
knew  the  north  star,  and  knew  that  somewhere  in 
the  world,  there  is  a  place  to  which,  if  I  could 
get,  I  and  my  child  too,  would  be  free.  I  laid 
aside,  each  day,  from  my  scanty  meal  a  little  food  ; 
and  when  the  store  seemed  large  enough,  one 
dark  night  I  took  my  sleeping  child  in  rny  arms, 
and  with  all  our  clothing  and  food  in  a  bundle  on 
my  back,  quietly  left  our  cabin,  on  a  long,  long 
journey,  seeking  for  freedom." 

(Here  part  of  the  narrative  has  been  omitted.) 


CHAPTER    VI. 


AARON'S    NARRATIVE. 

"  AT  night  we  took  a  meal  of  corn  bread.  Again 
with  Lucy  in  my  arms,  and  my  bundle  on  my 
back,  I  started  on  my  journey.  We  kept  on  from 
night  to  night,  till  we  came  to  the  Ohio  river.  I 
had  learned  how  to  cross  rivers.  I  made  a  float 
or  raft  of  two  logs  of  wood,  of  about  equal  length 
and  size,  placed  in  the  water  side  by  side,  about 
four  feet  apart,  then  two  more,  but  smaller,  laid 
across  the  first ;  then  two,  which  were  nearly  flat, 
placed  across  the  corners,  and  close  together ;  on 
these  I  put  my  bundle,  and  seating  Lucy  on  it, 
held  her  with  one  hand,  while  with  a  stick  in  the 
other,  I  first  pushed  the  raft  into  the  river,  and 
then  rowed  it  as  well  as  I  could.  I  had  never 
tried  before  to  row  a  boat,  or  to  cross  a  river,  ex 
cept  by  wading,  or  on  horseback.  My  rowing  was 
awkwardly  clone,  and  at  first  the  raft  only  seemed 
to  float  down  the  river  close  by  the  shore  from 
which  we  started.  But  by  constant  rowing,  1  saw 
that  we  were  getting  out  into  the  stream.  When 
we  got  into  the  middle  of  the  river,  the  water  ran 
so  strongly,  that  my  raft  seemed  unmanageable. 

(33) 


34  BELLE  scon1. 

I  worked  hard  at  my  .oar,  and  after  awhile,  got 
out  of  the  current,  and  was  gaining  the  shore  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  Just  as  I  thought 
myself  safe,  Lucy  started,  and  almost  shrieked 
with  fright;  I  turned  to  see  what  scared  her,  and 
saw,  what  seemed  to  be  a  furnace  of  fire,  coming 
rapidly  down  upon  us.  It  was  a  steamboat.  I 
called  out  as  loudly  as  I  could,  and  rowed  toward 
the  shore  with  all  my  force.  The  boat  swept  past 
us  without  striking  our  raft,  but  another  danger  as 
great,  seemed  as  if  it  would  destroy  us.  The 
boat  had  made  great  waves,  and  the  tossing  of 
these  seemed  likely  to  break  our  raft  in  pieces. 
I  pressed  myself  as  firmly  on  it  as  possible,  and 
the  great  waves  drove  us  close  to  the  shore. 
When  we  had  nearly  reached  it,  the  logs  came 
apart,  and  we  both  fell  in  the  river,  but  we  soon 
got  out  safe.  My  bag  of  food  and  clothes  came  also 
to  the  edge  of  the  river ;  I  caught  it,  and  all  wet 
as  we  were,  we  rejoiced  that  now  we  were  out  of 
the  land  of  slavery. 

"  On  the  night  before  this,  we  met  a  colored  man 
in  the  woods,  who  told  us  that  we  were  but  two 
miles  from  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  that  all  persons 
in  that  state  were  free.  I  thought  when  we  got 

~  o 

there  we  would  be  free.  As  soon  as  we  had 
climbed  the  river  bank,  we  stood  still.  1  said, 
"'  We  are  free ! ' 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  35 

" ' Free, father !  are  we  free  now;  free!  will  we 
be  free  all  our  lives  ? ' 

"  My  heart  was  full.  The  bright  stars  and  the 
half  moon  were  shining  in  the  sky.  All  was  still. 
I  looked  up  and  God  seemed  to  be  above  us;  I 
paused,  and  the  hot  blood  rushed  in  gushing- 
streams  over  my  whole  body ;  and  then,  lifting  up 
my  hands  to  heaven,  I  shouted,  ( We  are  free ! 
we  are  free  !'  I  heard  voices  shouting  in  return, 
1  We  are  free  !'  The  stars  seemed  to  shout, '  We  are 
free !'  The  clouds  that  floated  in  silver  drifts  above 
us,  shouted,  '  We  are  free  !'  Each  golden  wave  of 
the  Ohio,  as  it  rolled  along  in  its  course,  shouted 
'  We  are  free ! '  Every  hill  and  every  valley 
around  us,  shouted  and  shouted  again,  almost 
in  thunder-tones,  '  We  are  free  ! '  All  above  and 
around  us,  seemed  to  be  shouting  to  us,  and  to 
each  other,  '  We  are  free !  we  are  free ! '  We 
kneeled  down  and  kissed  the  ground  and  poured 
out  our  thanksgivings  to  God  for  freedom. 

"  I  looked  by  the  light  of  the  moon  and  stars  at 
my  hard  hands,  and  my  heart  leaped  and  beat  in 
my  breast  when  I  thought,  these  hands  are  mine ; 
these  feet  are  mine ;  this  head  is  my  own  head ; 
this  mouth,  these  eyes,  this  whole  body — all  my 
own.  My  whole  self  was  a  thousand  times  dearer 
to  me  now  that  they  were  mine.  My  child,  too, 


36  BELLE    SCOTT. 

was  my  own  child ;  I  pressed  her  to  my  bosom  und 
was  almost  mad  with  joy. 

"  The  morning  soon  came,  and  the  daylight  was 
sweeter  than  I  had  ever  seen  it  before ;  the  trees 
and  the  grass  were  greener ;  all  nature  had  fresh 
beauty,  such  as  I  never  thought  of;  I  seemed  to 
be  in  a  land  of  dreams ;  Heaven  itself  seemed  to 
be  near  me,  and  angels — good,  holy  angels  to  fill 
the  air  around,  and  to  be  rejoicing  with  us.  I 
walked  rapidly,  for  the  earth  seemed  to  bear  me 
up ;  I  felt  no  fatigue.  My  heart  was  full  of  joy. 

We  traveled  on  three  nights,  walking  as  fast  as 
we  could ;  our  provisions  had  got  spoiled  by  the 
water,  and  we  had  been  without  anything  to  eat  one 
day  and  night.  Two  weeks  had  now  passed  since 
we  started.  Sunday  morning  came ;  Lucy  was  very 
sick.  It  was  raining  hard,  and  cold:  wet  and 
hungry,  with  my  child  so  ill  that  I  feared  she 
would  die,  T  did  not  know  what  to  do.  If  I  trusted 
myself  to  any  white  person,  I  feared  that  we  might 
be  betrayed  and  sent  again  into  slavery.  If  I  did 
not  find  food,  fire  and  shelter,  my  child  might  die. 
At  last  I  determined  to  ask  for  food  at  the  next 
house  I  should  see.  I  came  to  a  white  frame 
house,  built  on  a  little  hill,  with  a  small  roofed 
porch  before  the  door.  The  out-buildings  seemed 
to  be  new ;  there  were  a  great  many  little  trees  and 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  37 

bushes  in  the  yard.  I  stopped  a  long  time  before 
I  could  make  up  my  mind  to  go  there,  but  Lucy 
was  hungry  and  cold,  and  it  was  raining  upon  us. 
I  went  to  the  porch ;  before  I  knocked  at  the 
door  I  heard  some  person  reading ;  I  waited — he 
was  reading  the  Bible. 

"  Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them  on  his  right 
hand,  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the 
kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world :  for  I  was  a-hungered,  and  ye  gave  me 
meat :  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink :  I 
was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in :  naked,  and 
ye  clothed  me :  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited  me :  I 
was  in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto  me.  Then  shall 
the  righteous  answer  him,  saying,  Lord,  when  saw 
we  thee  a-hungered,  and  fed  thee  ?  or  thirsty,  and 
gave  thee  drink?  When  saw  we  thee  a  stran 
ger,  and  took  thee  in  ?  or  naked,  and  -clothed 
thee  ?  Or  when  saw  we  thee  sick,  or  in  prison, 
and  came  unto  thee  ?  And  the  King  shall  answer 
and  say  unto  them,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  inas 
much  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of 
these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me. 
Then  shall  he  say  also  unto  them  on  the  left  hand, 
depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire, 
prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels :  for  I  was  a- 
hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  no  meat :  I  was  thirsty, 
and  ye  gave  me  no  drink :  I  was  a  stranger,  and 


38  BELLE    SCOTT. 

ye  took  me  not  in :  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  not : 
sick,  and  in  prison,  and  ye  visited  me  not.  Then 
shall  they  also  answer  him,  saying,  Lord,  when  saw 
we  thee  a-hungered,  or  athirst,  or  a  stranger,  or 
naked,  or  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  did  not  minister 
unto  thee  ?  Then  shall  he  answer  them,  saying, 
verily  I  say  unto  you,  inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not 
to  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  to  me. 
And  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punish 
ment  :  but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal. 

"  After  he  had  read,  he  prayed  so  loud  that  I 
could  hear  every  word  he  said.  He  asked  God  to 
give  him  and  his  wife  strength  at  all  times,  to  do 
whatsoever  he  commanded  them.  He  prayed  for 
the  poor  and  the  needy,  and  for  those  who  had 
none  to  help  or  comfort  them,  and  for  all  those 
who  were  in  distress  in  mind,  body  or  estate.  The 
tears  came  into  my  eyes,  when  I  heard  his  prayer, 
for  I  felt  sure  that  he  would  help  us.  As  soon  as 
he  got  up,  I  knocked  gently  at  the  door.  It  was 
opened.  The  man  started  when  he  saw  us— 
stepped  back  and  looked  at  me,  as  if  he  was 
scared.  I  told  him,  that  my  child  was  cold, 
sick  and  hungry,  and  begged  him  to  let  me  warm 
her  by  his  fire,  and  for  a  little  bread  and  milk. 
Lucy  looked  hard  at  the  warm  fire,  the  first  she 
had  seen  for  a  week.  The  man  and  his  wife 
looked  at  each  other,  and  then  at  us,  and  seemed 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  39 

troubled.  Lucy  too  asked  for  a  piece  of  bread ; 
my  whole  heart  was  so  intent  on  getting  her 
warmed  and  fed,  that  I  never  thought  of  asking 
anything  for  myself,  although  I  was  hungry  and 
weak,  and  nearly  sick.  The  man  asked  me,  if  I 
was  a  runaway ;  I  could  not  tell  a  lie  with  Lucy 
in  my  arms ;  I  was  silent.  The  man  then  went 
back  to  his  Bible,  and  read  out  loud  again,  the 
same  words  that  he  had  read  before.  His  wife 
was  standing  by  his  side ;  both  of  them  looked  as 
if  they  did  not  know  what  to  do.  He  said  to  her, 
that  we  were  fugitives  from  slavery,  and  if  they 
harbored  us,  he  would  be  fined  a  thousand  dollars, 
and  have  to  pay  one  thousand  for  each  of  us  to 
our  owner,  and  to  be  imprisoned  six  months  in 
jail,  under  the  new  law  of  Congress,  if  they  were 
detected.  That  he  had  voted  against  his  neighbor, 
Squire  Phillips  a  few  weeks  before,  when  he  was 
a  candidate  for  the  legislature,  because  he  was  a 
drunkard ;  and  he  feared  Phillips  would  find  him 
out  arid  put  the  law  in  force  against  him.  The 
man  told  his  wife  that  for  three  days,  he  had  felt 
as  if  some  great  trial  was  coming  upon  him,  and 
while  he  was  at  prayer,  that  feeling  came  over 
him  as  a  cloud  of  darkness.  He  said,  they  had 
set  their  hearts  too  much  on  the  things  of  this 
world,  and  had  always  prospered. 

"  He  walked  in  deep  study,  two  or  three  times 


40  BELLE   SCOTT. 

across  the  room,  and  then  stopped  and  looked  his 
wife  in  the  face,  and  said,  'Jane,  what  shall  we 
do  ? '  She  made  no  reply.  He  then  went  back 
to  the  Bible  still  lying  open  on  the  stand,  and 
read  these  words:  'Cornelius,  thy  prayers,  and 
thine  alms  have  come  up  as  a  memorial  before 
God.'  He  stood  still  awhile  and  said,  I  see  it 
plainly  now ;  alms  to  the  needy,  are  as  acceptable 
sacrifices  to  God  as  prayers,  and  both  together 
are  remembered  before  him.  Daniel  prayed— 
prayed  aloud,  when  he  was  commanded  not  to  do 
so;  and  I  will  give  these  people  alms,  though 
commanded  not  to  do  so.  He  then  told  me  to 
come  in." 


CHAPTER    VII. 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE. 

"VERY  soon  a  hot  breakfast  was  ready  for  us. 
Lucy  was  too  sick  to  eat  much,  and  I  was  too  great 
ly  concerned  for  her,  to  have  any  relish  for  even  the 
good  food  before  me.  The  lady  gave  her  a  cup 
of  tea,  and  toast ;  undressed  her,  and  put  her  in  a 
soft  bed.  Oh !  how  my  heart  gushed  with  grati 
tude,  as  I  saw  my  poor  child  so  treated.  She  had 
never  before  slept  on  a  feather  bed,  had  never 
drank  tea,  and  I  had  never  been  treated  as  a  man 
till  now.  The  lady  bathed  Lucy's  face  and  hands, 
and  nursed  her  as  kindly  as  if  she  had  been  her 
own  child.  She  told  me  that  she  was  going  to  a 
meeting,  about  four  miles  off,  and  would  not  be 
back  till  late  in  the  afternoon.  She  told  me  to 
feel  myself  at  home,  to  lie  down  on  the  same  bed 
with  Lucy.  She  darkened  the  windows,  and  bade 
me  bolt  the  door.  I  told  the  man  that  I  could 
read,  and  asked  him  to  let  me  read  over  again  in 
his  Bible,  the  passages  I  had  heard  him  read, 
while  I  was  standing  at  his  door.  He  hunted  up 
the  places,  and  brought  the  stand  with  the  Bible 

(41) 


42  BELLE   SCOTT. 

on  it,  into  the  room  where  I  was.  Lucy  soon  fell 
asleep,  and  I  sat  at  her  side,  and  read  the  pas 
sages  over  and  over  again.  I  wondered  how  so 
good  a  man  could  doubt  whether  it  was  his  duty 
to  take  care  of  my  child ;  when  he  could  do  so 
with  such  words  in  God's  book,  right  before  his 
eyes.  '  Whatsoever  ye  would,  that  others  should 
do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  unto  them.'  If  his 
child  was  sick,  and  I  could  help  him,  would  he 
not  wish  that  I  should  do  so?  *  Whosoever 
offendeth  one  of  these  little  ones,  that  believe  in 
me,  better  were  it  for  him  that  a  millstone  were 
hanged  about  his  neck,  and  he  cast  into  the  sea.' 
I  had  always  taught  Lucy,  from  her  early  child 
hood,  to  believe,  trust,  and  obey  our  Saviour — she 
did  so  from  her  heart.  Could  this  man  then  have 
offended  her,  by  letting  her  stay  out  in  the  cold 
rain,  and  refusing  her  food  and  warmth,  when  it 
was  in  his  power  to  give  her  both  ? 

"She  was  sick  and  in  slavery,  though  not  in 
prison ;  how  could  he  refuse  even  for  a  moment  to 
aid  her !  After  a  while  the  lady  came  home,  and 
brought  with  her  the  preacher,  she  had  been  to 
hear.  He  was  an  old  man,  with  white  hair.  At 
first  he  did  not  talk  much,  but  after  dinner  they 
talked  a  great  deal ;  my  room  was  separated  from 
theirs  only  by  a  plank  partition ;  the  door  was  part 
of  the  time  :ijar.  and  I  could  hear  what  they  said. 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  43 

"  My  friend's  name  was  Peter  Browne,  and  his 
wife's,  Jane.  The  preacher  seemed  to  be  an  old 
friend,  and  called  them  by  their  first  names.  He 
told  them,  to  cultivate  holiness  of  heart ;  to  obey 
all  God's  commandments,  and  to  seek,  as  for  a 
pearl  without  price,  perfect  love  and  peace  with 
God.  He  told  them  of  the  faith  and  trials  of  the 
early  Christians;  how  they  suffered  all  their  worldly 
goods  to  be  taken  from  them,  and  were  cast  into 
prison — that  some  of  them  were  burned  up  in 
fire,  rather  than  disobey  any  of  God's  command 
ments. 

"  Mr.  Browne  asked  the  preacher's  opinion  about 
the  late  act  of  Congress.  The  preacher  told  him, 
he  thought  it  wrong,  to  talk  on  such  subjects  on  the 
Sabbath  day,  and  did  not  answer  his  question,  till 
Mr.  Browne  said, '  What  should  I  do  if  one  of  these 
fugitives  should  come  to  my  house,  and  ask  for 
food  ?  What  is  my  duty  in  such  a  case  ?  It  is 
impossible  for  any  man  to  know  at  what  minute 
it  may  occur  to  him.' 

"  Mr.  Patterson  said,  *  It  is  our  duty,  to  obey 
the  laws  of  our  country.  The  Scriptures  expressly 
command  that  we  shall  be  subject  to  the  powers 
that  be.  And  this  commandment,'  he  said,  'was 
given,  when  the  governments  of  the  earth  were 
much  more  oppressive  than  now.' 

"  Mr.  Browne  said,  <  That  was  true,  but  the  very 


44  BELLE   SCOTT. 

same  apostles  who  wrote  this,  themselves  refused 
to  obey  the  command  of  their  superiors,  when 
they  forbade  them  to  preach  the  Gospel.' 

" '  Ah ! '  said  Mr.  Patterson,  (  they  chose  to  obey 
God,  rather  than  man.  This  is  our  duty  in  all 
.cases,  where  the  commandments  of  men  forbid 
duties  which  God  enjoins.' 

"Mr.  Browne  said,  'God  does  in  all  parts  of 
the  Bible  command  us  to  feed  the  hungry,  to 
help  the  poor  and  needy ;  to  be  a  friend  to  the 
fatherless,  the  widows  and  to  all  that  are  oppressed; 
and  that  the  condition  of  slaves,  was  as  helpless 
as  that  of  widows  and  orphans,  or  strangers. 
Shall  I,  ought  I  to  obey,'  said  he  with  great 
earnestness,  'any  law  of  man,  which  either  in 
words,  or  in  substance,  forbids  me  to  feed  the 
hungry,  to  clothe  the  naked,  to  help  him  who  is 
ready  to  perish  ?  Is  it  my  duty  to  do  so  ?  If  so, 
in  what  part  of  the  Bible  is  such  duty  revealed  ? 
by  what  course  of  fair  argument,  am  I  to  be  con 
vinced  it  is  so  ?' 

" t  The  Constitution,  the  organic  law  of  our  coun 
try,  made  by  wise  and  patriotic  men,  requires  the 
surrender  of  fugitive  slaves.  No  human  instru 
ment  ever  has .  been,  ever  will  be,  perfect.  The 
best  men  are  controlled  by  circumstances,  and 
must  do  as  they  can,  in  view  of  all  the  circum 
stances  that  surround  them.  Slavery  existed  in 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  45 

nearly  all  the  states,  when  this  Constitution  was 
adopted ;  and  the  return  of  a  fugitive  from  slavery, 
only  places  him  in  the  condition  in  which  he  was 
born,  and  gives  peace  to  the  country.  Without 
this  clause,  it  may  be,  that  our  union  never  would 
have  been  formed.  It  does  not  make  any  man  a 
slave ;  it  only  obliges  us  not  to  intermeddle  with 
the  slaves  of  our  fellow  citizens  in  other  states. 
And  as  this  is  a  constitutional  provision,  it  is  but 
right  to  make  laws  to  carry  it  into  full  effect.  It 
is  a  compromise  of  conflicting  principles ;  and  the 
laws  that  are  made  pursuant  to  it,  should  of  course 
be  obeyed  by  all  good  men.' 

" i  Yes,'  said  Mr.  Browne,  '  it  is  indeed  a  com 
promise  ;  but  what  sort  of  compromise  ?  The 
slaveholder  robs  his  slave  of  all  his  earnings,  of 
his  wife,  of  his  children,  of  his  liberty,  dearer  than 
life  ;  and  we  on  our  side  have  *  compromised  '  with 
him  to  protect  and  support  him  in  this  wrong 
doing  and  sin.  Is  not  he  who  keeps  guard  for 
the  robber,  to  secure  to  him  his  prey,  as  guilty  as 
the  robber  himself?  Two  men  compromise  away 
the  rights  of  a  third  person,  who  is  no  party  to 
their  compact,  and  whose  rights  are  either  stricken 
down  by  their  agreement,  or  kept  down  by  it,  and 
each  agrees  with  an  oath,  to  support  the  other  in 
their  joint  iniquity  :  is  this  such  an  agreement  as 
Christian  men  may  make  or  support  ?  The  return 

4 


46  BELLE    SCOTT. 

of  the  fugitive  does  place  him  in  a  worse  state 
than  he  would  be  but  for  such  return.  He  would 
be  free  if  it  were  not  for  these  laws  making  it  our 
duty,  as  you  say,  to  send  him  back.  It  is  true,  it 
obliges  us  not  to  intermeddle  with  our  neighbor's 
slaves :  but  is  it  not  our  duty  to  intermeddle  with 
them,  when  the  fugitive  knocks  at  our  door  and 
asks  shelter  and  food,  sympathy  and  protection  ? 
Is  not  this  very  agreement  an  open  denial  of  God's 
authority  ?  He  commands  us  to  do  these  things, 
and  this  is  an  agreement  on  our  part,  not  to  do 
them.  Imperfection  may  exist  of  necessity,  but 
not  sin;  God  has  not  imposed  a  necessity  for 
sinning  on  any  people/' 

"  Mr.  Patterson  said,  '  But,  brother  Browne,  re 
member,  that  many  of  our  best  men  are  bound  by 
their  oaths  to  support  this  Constitution ;  the  whole 
of  it,  including,  of  course,  all  its  parts.' 

" '  Yes,'  replied  Mr.  Browne, '  but  if  a  man  takes 
an  oath  to  burn  my  house,  or  murder  my  family, 
or  to  burn  a  city,  or  murder  all  the  people  he 
meets  on  the  streets ;  does  his  oath  give  him  any 
greater  right  to  do  so  than  he  had  before  ?  If  so, 
a  man  has  only  to  take  an  oath  that  he  will  dis 
obey  every  commandment  of  God,  and  every  law 
of  man,  and  then  he  will  be  guiltless,  no  matter 
what  sins  and  outrages  he  may  commit.  If  the 
thing  itself  is  sinful,  the  oath  to  commit  or  (o  con- 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  47 

tinue  in  it,  is  an  additional  sin.  If  two  men  rob 
you,  and  divide  the  spoil,  and  each  binds  himself 
by  an  oath  to  sustain  the  other  in  his  wrong,  does 
that  give  them  any  right  to  keep  their  ill-gotten 
gain  ?  When  a  band  of  men  at  Jerusalem,  agreed 
with  an  oath  to  kill  St.  Paul,  they  had  no  greater 
right  to  do  so,  than  they  had  before.  At  least 
Paul  thought  so,  for  he  accepted  an  escort,  and 
escaped. 

" '  When  Herod  agreed  with  an  oath,  to  give  to 
the  daughter  of  Herodias  whatsoever  she  would 
ask,  even  to  the  half  of  his  kingdom ;  had  he  any 
more  right  to  behead  John  the  Baptist  at  her  re 
quest,  than  he  had  before  ?  This  too  was  a '  com 
promise,'  between  Herod  and  the  dancing  girl ; 
the  one  demanded,  and  the  other  gave ;  but  John 
the  Baptist  was  not  consulted  in  the  compromise 
and  was  beheaded.' 

" '  Well,'  said  Mr.  Patterson, {  the  case  is  really 
a  difficult  one.' 

" '  1  see  now,  no  difficulty  whatever  in  it,'  re 
plied  Mr.  Browne.  '  It  is  my  undoubted  right  to 
read  the  whole  Bible,  and  to  obey  every  command 
ment  in  it.  God  had  the  right  to  command,  and 
as  his  accountable  and  moral  creature,  it  is  my 
duty  to  OBEY  HIM.  The  one  is  the  inevitable  re 
sult  of  the  other.  It  seems  to  me,  that  if  it  is  not 
every  man's  duty  to  obey  the  whole  Bible,  it  was 


48  BELLE   SCOTT. 

not  God's  right  to  command  every  man  to  do  so, 
and  so  the  result  would  be  impious  at  least.  Now 
what  God  has  made  it  every  man's  duty  to  do, 
He  has  given  every  man  on  earth  the  right  to  do. 
The  duty  came  from  God,  and  the  right  to  dis 
charge  it,  is  also  from  God  himself.  Any  law, 
therefore,  which  even  tends  to  hinder  any  man 
from  discharging  any^duty  revealed  in  the  Bible, 
impairs  his  religious  freedom.  Every  man  on  this 
earth  has  the  right  to  obey  all  the  commandments 
of  God,  and  this  right  has  always  been  claimed  in 
the  United  States.  When,  therefore,  God  com 
mands  me  to  shelter  the  outcast,  to  aid  the  poor 
and  needy,  to  be  a  friend  to  the  friendless,  I  can 
see  no  cloud  upon  my  path  of  duty.  I  walk  in  it 
with  the  full  sunlight  of  God  blazing  from  the 
Bible  upon  me,  and  have  no  more  doubt  than  I 
would  have,  if  an  angel  from  heaven  were  standing 
by  my  side,  and  guiding  my  every  footstep.' 

" '  Brother  Browne,  that  may  be  well  enough ;  it 
seems  all  plain  to  you ;  but  do  you  not  fear  that 
if  you  step  aside  into  this  new,  and  as  yet,  untrod 
den  path,  you  may  encounter  difficulties  of  which 
you  are  not  now  aware  ?  Is  it  not  best  to  be  on  the 
safe  side  ?  Prudence  is  a  virtue.  You  have  a 
family  to  support,  and  have  friends  who  are  inter 
ested  in  your  welfare ;  be  cautious ;  no  man  was 
ever  hurt  b}'  being  prudent  and  raulious,  while 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  49 

thousands  have  been  ruined  by  rashness.  Your 
good  old  father,  who  is  now  in  heaven,  never  en 
tertained  such  thoughts  or  followed  any  such 
courses  as  you  seem  now  inclined  to  enter  upon. 
Wait;  be  patient;  pray;  read  your  Bible;  and 
meddle  not  with  those  who  are  given  to  strife.' 

"'Why  read  my  Bible,  unless  I  do  what  it 
clearly  teaches  ?  Why  shall  I  bow  my  knee  to 
Christ  and  call  him  Lord,  Lord,  if  I  do  not  the 
things  he  commands  ?  Why  go  to  meetings,  but 
for  additional  help  and  strength  to  discharge  what 
soever  duties  God  has  revealed  ?  It  may  be  true 
that  my  father  did  not  do  as  I  intend ;  but  each 
age  has  its  own  especial  duties :  the  light  that  I 
have  he  may  never  have  enjoyed.  Prudence,  may 
indeed  be  a  virtue,  but  is  it  prudent  to  disobey 
God  ?  Rashness  has  ruined  thousands ;  but  is  it 
not  rash  even  to  madness,  to  disobey  a  clear  com 
mand  of  God  ?  There  are  dangers  to  my  worldly 
interests  in  my  path ;  but  are  there  not  also  dan 
gers  to  my  eternal  life,  if  I  disobey  a  clear  com 
mand  from  God  ? ' 

" ;  You  are  right,  brother  Browne,  I  see  it,  and 
what  is  more,  I  feel  it  too.  You  are  right  brother. 
We  must  at  all  hazards  obey  God ;  and  if  men,  by 
their  laws,  command  us  to  disobey  him,  it  is  our 
duty  and  therefore  our  right,  to  disregard  all  such 
laws,  and  we  are  cowards  and  worse,  if  we  do  not 


50  BELLE   SCOTT. 

do  so.  The  kingdom  of  God  has  ever  been  at 
war  with  the  Prince  of  the  powers  of  the  air,  and  it 
would  be  strange  indeed  if  we  in  our  country 
should  find  no  warfare.  Asia  and  Europe  have 
had  their  conflicts,  which  arose  from  their  popular 
sins,  and  we  may  have  ours ;  perhaps  as  fierce, 
as  bitter,  as  bloody  and  unrelenting,  as  theirs. 
The  human  heart  in  all  ages,  has  been  the  same. 
Civilization  has  only  hidden  its  tiger  passions,  and 
these  when  aroused,  are  as  fierce  in  their  wrath  as 
they  were  in  the  days  of  Nero,  or  on  the  plains  of 
India.  Slavery  is  the  sin  of  America,  as  idolatry 
was  that  of  ancient  Rome  ;  and  the  one  may  cost 
as  many  martyrdoms  as  did  the  other,  before  it 
shall  be  overthrown.  The  laws  that  sustain  Slavery 
in  this  country,  are  as  grossly  \\icked,  as  those 
that  sustained  the  idolatry  of  the  Roman  empire ; 
and  it  is  as  much  our  duty  to  disobey  them,  as  it 
was  the  duty  of  the  early  Christians  to  refuse  to 
worship  idols.  All  sins  dishonor  God,  and  destroy 
man  ;  and  this  sin  of  slave-holding,  tramples  down 
into  the  very  dust,  the  children  of  the  most  High  ; 
classes  them  with  the  beasts  of  the  field.  God 
made  man  in  his  own  image,  and  gave  him 
dominion  over  the  beasts  of  the  forest  and  the 
field,  and  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and  the  creeping 
things  of  the  earth,  and  the  fish  of  the  sea.  He 
only,  of  ;ill  creatures  on  earth,  knows  the  use  of 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  51 

fire ;  he  only,  laughs  and  weeps ;  and  above  all,  he 
only,  can  be  taught  to  worship  and  obey  God ;  the 
beasts  never  can.  God  has  surrounded  him  with 
his  protecting  care,  by  laws  obligatory  upon  all 
men.  He  has  commanded  all  men  to  love  him, 
as  they  love  themselves,  and  to  do  to  him,  as 
they  would  others  should  do  unto  them.' 

" '  You  are  right  too,  in  another  of  your  asser 
tions.  It  is  every  man's  right,  to  do  everything 
that  God  by  his  revealed  word,  has  clearly  made 
it  his  duty  to  do.  Now  as  God  has  in  the  Bible, 
revealed  to  man  the  whole  circle  of  his  duties ;  to 
God,  to  Christ,  to  the  Church,  to  his  father  and 
mother,  to  his  wife  and  children,  to  his  friends 
and  neighbors,  to  his  country,  and  to  all  man 
kind  ;  it  follows  inevitably,  that  he  cannot  be  a 
slave ;  for  no  slave  can  discharge  all  these  duties : 
his  very  position  as  a  slave,  makes  it  impossible 
for  him  to  do  so.' 

" '  The  Bible  assumes  the  existence  of  God  ;  it 
also  assumes  the  free  agency  of  man.  Both  alike 
are  true,  and  hence  it  is,  that  the  Bible  is  the 
great  liberator  of  the  world ;  and  those  who  teach 
it  to  others,  and  obey  it  themselves,  are  the  best 
friends  of  human  freedom.  The  missionary  enter 
prise  is  therefore,  above  all  others,  that  to  which 
men  must  look,  and  on  which,  under  God,  they 


52  BELLE    SCOTT. 

should  rely,  for  the  deliverance  of  the  earth  from 
tyranny  and  despotism.' 

"  Mrs.  Browne  now  came  in,  and  invited  them 
out  to  supper.  After  supper  the  conversation 
commenced  again  on  the  same  subject. 

"Mr.  Brown  said:  'I  have  taken  an  oath  to 
support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  that  instrument,  you  say,  requires  us  to 
surrender  fugitives  from  slavery.  What  am  I 
to  do  ?  I  wish  to  keep  my  oath.  I  have  never 
willingly  violated  my  plighted  faith — and  there 
is  too  another  engagement  upon  me  not  less 
sacred.  When  I  joined  the  Church,  I  covenanted 
with  God,  to  obey  all  his  commandments. 

"  'If  the  Constitution  does  indeed  require  us  to 
surrender  fugitive  slaves,  then  the  law  which 
forbids  us  to  harbor  them,  in  its  principle  and 
spirit,  requires  us  to  withhold  food  and  shelter 
from  them,  so  that  they  may  return  as  soon  as 
possible  to  their  masters ;  every  act  by  which  the 
slave  is  better  able  to  go  on  his  way  to  Canada, 
violates  the  spirit  if  not  the  very  letter  of  that 
law.  Here  then  there  are  conflicting  laws ;  that  of 
God  commands  me  to  feed  the  hungry  —  to 
shelter  the  outcast — and  that  of  Congress  forbids 
me  to  do  so. 

"'Prayers  and  alms  are  alike  acceptable  to 
God  now.  as  they  were  in  the  days  of  Cornelius, 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  53 

whose  alms  and  prayers  were  both  remembered 
before  HIM.  A  law  of  Congress  that  would  forbid 
us  to  pray,  would  clearly  violate  our  rights  of 
conscience,  and  impair  our  religious  liberty. 

"'Does  not  the  law  that  forbids  us  to  show 
mercy  to  the  poor,  have  the  same  effect?  Is 
there  no  protection  to  religious  liberty  in  this 
whole  land  ? 

" '  Where  is  the  difference  between  a  law  which 
commands  us  to  renounce  Christ  in  words,  as  a 
law  of  the  Roman  empire  did,  and  one  that  com 
mands  us  to  disobey  him  ? — between  a  law  that 
forbids  us  to  read  the  Bible,  and  one  that  forbids 
us  to  obey  it,  after  we  have  it  ?  I  can  see  none. 
And  if  we  are  bound  to  do  this  by  the  Constitution, 
the  religious  freedom  of  the  whole  people  of  the 
United  States,  is  as  fully  overthrown  here  to-day, 
as  that  liberty  ever  has  been,  or  now  is  in  any 
country  on  earth.  I  will  not,  for  my  part,  obey 
any  such  law.  '  As  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will 
follow  God,  and  keep  his  commandments.' 

"  My  heart  leaped  with  joy,  when  I  heard  him 
say  this,  for  I  feared  for  the  very  life  of  my  child, 
if  he  should  make  up  his  mind  not  to  do  so.  If 
he  turned  us  out,  who  would  take  care  of  us? 
My  child  was  sick ;  had  a  fever.  I  was  hungry 
and  could  not  work,  lest  I  should  be  detected  and 
taken  back  into  slavery.  I  felt  that  we  were 

5 


54  BELLE   SCOTT. 

now  safe.  The  good  man,  Mr.  Browne,  had  made 
up  his  mind  to  obey  his  God,  as  well  as  to  pray 
to  Him. 

"  Mr.  Browne  said :  '  This  man,  has  as  good  a 
right  to  give  his  children  freedom,  as  to  give 
them  food.' 

"  I  never  heard  anybody  say  so  before ;  but 
I  always  thought  so. 

"Mr.  Patterson  said:  'The  laws  in  the  slave 
states  support  slavery.' 

" '  Yes,  said  Mr.  Browne,  '  in  some  of  them  they 
allow  horse-racing,  and  gambling,  and  liquor  sell 
ing,  going  to  theaters,  and  selling  bad  books. 
It  would  be  a  strange  thing  if  Christian  people  did 
all  these  things,  and  then  said,  the  laws  allowed 
them  to  do  so.  The  law  compels  no  man  to  be  a 
slaveholder.  He  can  leave  the  state  with  his  slaves, 
and  set  them  free  in  the  free  states.  Many  have 
done  so,  and  all  who  will  not  do  so  are  without 
excuse.' 

" '  There  must,  I  think,'  said  Mr.  Patterson, l  be 
some  mistake  about  my  construction  of  the  Con 
stitution.  Every  man  in  the  United  States,  has 
the  undoubted  right  to  believe  in  God,  and  to 
obey  HIM.  To  read  the  whole  Bible,  and  prac 
tice  all  that  is  taught  in  it.  The  people  of  the 
United  States  have  always  thought  so.  Surely 
there  can  be  no  error  in  this  opinion,  which  has 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  55 

been  held  by  the  whole  people,  ever  since  this 
has  been  a  government  ?  I  will  look  further  into 
this  matter.  My  opinions  have  probably  been 
too  hastily  formed.' 

"  The  next  morning  Mr.  Patterson  went  away. 
We  staid  upward  of  a  week  at  Mr.  Browne's. 
Lucy  was  too  ill  to  travel.  When  she  got  better, 
one  evening  we  attempted  to  leave,  and  bidding 
Mrs.  Browne  farewell,  with  many  thanks  for  her 
kindness,  we  set  out.  Mr.  Browne  went  with  us, 
but  we  had  gone  only  a  few  steps  from  the  house, 
when  it  was  plain  that  Lucy  could  not  go  on. 
Mr.  Browne  told  us  to  come  back,  and  stay  a  few 
days  longer. 

"  I  ought  to  have  mentioned  that  Mrs.  Browne 
gave  Lucy  some  clothes.  They  treated  us  with 
great  kindness,  which  day  by  day  increased." 


CHAPTER     VIII. 


REV.  MR.  ST.  JOHN. 


NEAR  the  village  of  Burtonville,  in  the  eastern 
part  of  Virginia,  an  old  church  had  been  standing 
lor  a  century.  The  people  who  worshiped  in  it, 
had  been  for  mujy  months  without  a  pastor. 

On  the  first  Sunday  in  November,  in  the  year 
1833,  the  Rev.  Mr.  St.  John,  by  an  invitation 
from  the  members  of  the  church,  was  there  to 
preach.  He  was  without  charge  at  the  time,  and 
had  been  highly  spoken  of  as  a  suitable  person 
for  their  pastor.  A  great  many  carriages  stood 
near  the  church,  with  colored  men  as  drivers  and 
servants,  lounging  in  groups  about  them. 

Plethoric  gentlemen,  whose  faces  showed  that 
their  wine  and  their  cheer  was  good  ;  elderly  ladies, 
whose  glossy  hair,  neatly  parted  in  front,  set  off 
the  frills  of  their  white  caps  with  best  effect; 
young  ladies  richly  dressed ;  young  gentlemen 
with  neat  cane's,  well-made  coats,  and  jeweled 
pins;  filled  the  pews.  These  people,  from,  the 
village  and  the  country  around  it,  had  come  up 
to  worship. 
(56) 


REV.    MR.    ST.    JOHN.  57 

Mr.  St.  John  was  tall,  gaunt,  and  lean.  The 
skin  upon  his  face  and  hands,  had  a  sickly -yellow 
hue :  nothing  about  him  exhibited  the  great 
talents  he  was  said  to  have,  except  his  large  black 
eyes ;  and  they,  when  he  was  in  repose,  seemed 
to  be  slightly  vailed  with  film ;  but  when  he  be 
came  animated,  they  shone  and  glared  with  the 
light  almost  of  insanity  itself. 

After  the  introductory  service,  he  announced 
his  text.  "  Servants,  be  obedient  to  them  that 
are  your  masters  according  to  the  flesh,  with  fear 
and  trembling,  not  with  eye-service  as  men- 
pleasers,  but  as  the  servants  of  Christ." 

All  were  surprised.  The  duties  of  servants! 
They  were  outside  of  the  house  with  the  horses ! 
No  person  to  whom  the  word  could  rigidly  be  ap 
plied,  was  within  the  walls  of  the  building.  The 
matter  was  new  ;  all  were  aroused  and  attentive. 
We  have  no  space  to  furnish  our  readers  with  the 
whole  of  this  discourse.  Extracts  are  all  that  our 
limits  allow. 

"It  is  the  duty  of  servants  to  obey  their 
masters.  God  himself  has  positively  commanded 
them,  in  the  text,  to  do  so.  To  refuse,  or  to  with 
hold  that  obedience,  is  to  resist  an  ordinance  of 
God. 

"  The  relation  of  master  and  servant,  had  been 
ordained  and  established  by  God  in  his  infinite 


58  BELLE    SCOTT. 

wisdom  and  goodness.  It  is  of  mutual  benefit  to 
the  parties  who  enjoy  that  relation.  It  gives  to 
the  master,  leisure  for  mental  and  moral  culture ; 
to  the  servants,  the  certainty  of  food,  shelter, 
clothing,  home,  and  relief  from  perplexing  cares. 
True,  the  relation  may  be  abused,  and  he  was 
willing  to  admit,  that  in  many  instances  it  had 
been  abused.  But  so,  too,  had  the  relation  of 
husband  and  wife ;  parent  and  child ;  and  all  the 
relations  of  domestic  life.  Man  is  morally  ruined 
by  the  fall,  and  the  serpent's  trail  is  in  every 
household. 

"The  relation  appeared  first  to  have  been  es 
tablished  in  the  curse  of  Canaan :  afterward  it 
was  not  only  permitted,  but  enjoined  upon  the 
Israelites  to  make  servants  of  the  heathen  round 
about  them.  It  has  existed  among  all  civilized 
nations,  and  in  all  ages  since  the  flood. 

"  The  most  serious  evils  result  to  society  from 
visionary  schemes  of  philanthropy,  that  destroy 
it.  Where  it  no  longer  exists,  except  as  a  mer 
cenary  relation,  the  master  and  servant  have  no 
common  interest.  They  are  heads  of  different 
households.  The  one  has  no  certain  home ;  the 
other,  no  established  service ;  and  hence  the 
domestic  arrangements  of  the  master  are  fre 
quently,  and  sadly  disturbed  for  want  of  service, 
when  it  is  most  needed ;  and  the  poor  servant,  too 


REV.    MR.    ST.    JOHN.  59 

often,  is  left  to  starve  or  beg.  The  sad  condition 
of  the  free  negroes  and  mulattoes  in  our  own  state, 
and  indeed,  wherever  they  are,  is  additional  proof 
that  the  relation  is  blessed.  They  are  destitute, 
afflicted,  tormented  by  hunger,  suffering  with  cold, 
in  want  and  wretchedness,  crowded  together  into 
seething  and  festering  sinks  of  disease  and  vice. 
It  is  necessary  only  to  see  them  as  they  are,  to 
be  convinced  that  those  who  have  released  them 
from  their  light  service,  have  been  deluded  by 
erroneous  views  of  duty.  How  much  happier 
would  they  be,  how  infinitely  happier  for  this  life, 
and  how  much  more  hope  for  them  for  the  life  to 
come  ;  if  they  could  but  have  the  care  of  Christian 
masters,  and  the  gentle  guidance  and  admonition 
of  Christian  mistresses." 

He  then,  in  touching  language,  showed  the 
folly  of  those  who,  under  the  guise  of  philanthropy, 
have  now  actually  organized  themselves,  with  a 
determined  purpose  to  break  up  this  relation  in 
the  southern  states.  "They,  or  their  ancestors, 
had,  in  their  own  states,  taken  from  the  couch  of 
the  sick  and  the  dying,  the  care  of  servants  born 
in  the  household,  and  at  all  times  integral  parts 
of  the  family ;  care,  scarcely  less  tender  and  unre 
mitting  than  a  mother's  love ;  and  provided  as  its 
substitute,  the  watching  of  the  hired  nurse,  who 
dozed  and  dreamed  at  the  bedside  of  her  dying 


CO  BELLE    SCOTT. 

mistress.  And  they  now  wish,  against  our  will, 
to  reduce  our  hearths  and  households  to  the  same 
sad  condition. 

"  It  is  the  duty  of  all  to  resist  these  encroach 
ments  upon  rights  so  valuable  and  so  sacred.  To 
resist,  as  Christians  should,  with  the  meekness  of 
angels,  but  with  the  firmness  of  heroes  and  of 
martyrs.  If  the  urgent  demands  now  made  upon 
us,  were  for  a  cloak  or  a  coat,  or  to  go  with  the 
exactors  a  mile,  it  would  be  our  duty  to  yield  ;  but 
when  our  hearthstones  are  no  longer  sacred ; 
when  the  established  institutions  of  the  state  and 
of  domestic  life,  are  ruthlessly  invaded;  then,  it 
becomes  us,  by  our  self-respect,  our  love  of  wives, 
and  children,  and  home,  our  love  of  the  Bible  and 
of  holy  things,  to  resist  to  the  uttermost,  the 
attacks  so  wickedly  made,  and  so  incessantly 
repeated. 

"  In  a  moment  of  weakness,  and  for  want  of 
due  reflection,  we  have  already  yielded  too  much." 
He  had  shown  that  the  relation  of  master  and 
servant  was  a  natural  one ;  approved  and  sanc 
tioned  by  the  Father  of  mercies ;  "  as  that  is 
right,  we  must  take  that  as  the  stand-point,  and 
viewed  from  this  position,  the  trade,  by  which  our 
servants  were  brought  here,  was  also  right;  and 
that  by  means  of  which  they  follow  their  masters 
to  new  and  distant  states,  is  right.  We  have  suf- 


REV.    MR.   ST.   JOHN.  61 

fered  the  agents  in  these  trades,  to  be  denounced 
and  defamed.  We  have,"  he  regretted  to  say, 
"  ourselves,  too  often  given  point  to  the  sting  of 
these  reproaches,  by  refusing  to  admit  into  our  so 
ciety,  well-educated,  and  well-behaved  men,  whose 
only  offense  is,  to  act  as  merchants,  in  transfer 
ring,  when  necessity  requires  it,  servants  from  one 
state,  already  full  of  them,  to  another,  where  their 
services  are  of  more  value.  We  should  humble 
ourselves,  and  repent  of  this  gross  injustice  and 
deep  wrong.  We  have  sometimes  done  more — 
we  have  refused  to  these  gentlemen  the  benefit  of 
the  sanctuary,  and  of  alliance  with  the  church. 
We  do  not  so  with  merchants  in  other  lawful 
traffic.  This  is  but  the  result  of  prejudice  and 
perverted  sympathy.  We  have  listened  so  often 
to  the  assailants  of  our  institutions,  that  we  our 
selves  have  imperceptibly,  become  imbued  in  part, 
at  least,  with  their  unholy  prejudices  and  unwise 
views,  and  suffer  our  conduct  to  be  controlled  by 
principles  to  which  we  are,  in  practice,  opposed. 
"  Our  repentance  should  be  speedy  and  deep. 
We  have  wronged  our  best  friends.  They  are  of 
great  service  to  the  state,  and  to  our  institutions, 
and  our  gratitude  and  regard  should  be  commen 
surate  with  the  benefits  they  have  conferred. 
What  would  become  of  the  institution  without  these 
men  ?  and  what  with  all  the  benefits  and  blessings 


62  BELLE   SCOTT. 

that  result  from  that  institution  ?  They  are,"  he 
said,  "  the  very  pillars  of  the  commonwealth,  which 
we  by  our  insane  prejudices,  are  pulling  down.  Let 
us  reflect ; "  and  again  he  urged,  "  let  us  repent 
in  sackcloth  and  ashes." 


CHAPTER    IX. 


BENNETT   LEATHERS. 


As  Mr.  St.  John  left  the  church,  a  gentleman 
stepped  up  to  him  and  said :  "  Allow  me,  sir,  to 
accompany  you  part  of  the  way  to  your  lodgings. 
I  am  so  delighted  with  your  sermon,  that  I  wish 
to  cultivate  your  acquaintance.  My  name,  sir,  is 
Bennett  Leathers.  You  must  have  heard  of  Gen 
eral  Wilmot ;  well,  sir,  he  is  my  mother's  own 
brother;  and  Colonel  Woodman  and  Major  Harvey, 
are  my  first  cousins,  so  that  you  see,  sir,  I  am  of  a 
good  family.  I  live  in  Campbell  county,  where  I 
have  a  plantation.  I  have  listened  to  you  to-day, 
and  fully  agree  with  you,  in  all  the  opinions  you 
have  advanced.  Your  arguments  are  conclusive; 
your  logic  is  exact,  and  well  applied.  Indeed,  sir, 
you  have  been  of  great  service  to  the  country. 
If  you  were  to  die  to-morrow,  sir,  the  country 
would  owe  you  a  debt  of  gratitude,  which  it  never 
can  repay.  Slaves  are  better  off  than  they  would 
be,  if  they  were  free.  Nobody  but  fanatics  doubts 
that.  Everybody  who  says  to  the  contrary,  sir, 
is  a  fanatic.  The  whole  world  calls  them  fanatics ; 
all  the  newspapers  publish  them  as  fanatics ;  and 

(63) 


64  BELLE   SCOTT. 

they  are  fanatics,  sir.  There's  my  man,  Joe ;  I 
have  but  one  slave  sir,  and  that  is  old  Joe ;  the 
greatest  thief  and  liar,  sir,  in  the  whole  world,  old 
Joe  is — upon  my  honor  he  is,  sir.  Well  now,  I 
take  care  of  old  Joe.  I  give  him  food  and  cloth 
ing,  and  take  care  of  him,  and  keep  him  when  1 
can,  from  getting  drunk.  I  don't  work  him  hard, 
and  keep  no  overseer,  because  you  see,  sir,  I  can 
not  afford  to  hire  an  overseer  for  three  hundred 
dollars  a  year,  and  six  barrels  of  flour,  and  two 
barrels  of  pork,  and  let  him  have  a  horse,  saddle, 
and  bridle,  whenever  he  wants  one,  just  to  make 
old  Joe  work.  So  I  am  my  own  overseer ;  I  sit 
on  the  fence  all  day,  and  make  old  Joe  work  in 
the  tobacco  patch,  and  in  the  cornfield.  I  get  so 
tired,  that  it  almost  kills  me,  but  I  am  getting 
used  to  it ;  and  then  the  worst  of  it  is,  that  last 
year,  after  all  the  crop  was  raised,  and  got  all 
ready  for  the  market,  old  Joe  stole  it  all,  little  by 
little,  till  nothing  at  all  was  left  for  me ;  he  traded 
it  off  to  a  mean  white  man,  who  keeps  a  grog 
shop,  for  whisky  and  tobacco.  I  did  not  get  a 
cent  for  the  whole  crop — not  enough  to  pay  the 
taxes  on  the  land.  Now  would  it  not  be  a  pity 
for  me  to  turn  old  Joe  loose  on  society,  and  leave 
him  to  shift  fur  himself?  He'd  starve  to  death, 
sir,  in  two  weeks,  lie  would  steal  everything  he 
could  lay  his  hands  on  too ;  and  would  go  to  the 


BENNETT    LEATHERS.  06 

penitentiary.  I  have  tried  to  sell  him  over  and 
over  again,  but  when  I  take  a  trader  to  look  at 
him,  old  Joe  has  got  a  fashion  of  throwing  his 
elbows  out  of  joint,  and  pretends  it  is  the  rheuma 
tism,  he  calls  it  rheumatics,  sir,  and  so  no  trader 
will  buy  him,  because  they  say,  sir,  that  he  might 
do  so,  when  they  got  him  down  South,  and  they 
could  never  sell  him. 

'•  I  have  come  to  this  place  for  a  few  days,  on  u 
little  private  matter  of  my  own ;  a  little  love 
affair,  sir,  under  the  rose.  Miss  Black  is  a 
beautiful  lady ;  I  met  her  last  week  at  a  party 
and  fell  half  in  love  with  her.  Her  father  is  a 
merchant,  sir,  but  he  is  a  wholesale  tobacco  mer 
chant  ;  and  so  you  see,  though  you  would  hardly 
expect  me  to  propose  for  a  merchant's  daughter, 
yet,  as  her  father  is  rich,  and  she  is  his  only  child, 
her  wealth  may  be  equal  to  my  family  position,  and 
so  make  an  equal  match,  sir.  I  came  here  day 
before  yesterday,  and  have  called  four  times  at 
her  father's  to  see  her,  but  she  is  too  unwell  to 
see  me,  and  I  am  waiting  at  the  hotel  till  she  gets 
better.  I  am  surprised  too,  at  her  sickness,  for 
only  four  days  ago,  she  was  the  very  picture  of 
health,  sir,  a  blooming  beauty,  and  as  merry  a 
young  lady,  as  you  ever  saw,  sir.  I  once  before, 
paid  attention  to  a  merchant's  daughter.  She 
was  from  New  York.  I  met  her  at  the  Springs. 


66  BELLE   SCOTT. 

She  was  a  very  learned  lady.  She  believes  a 
string  of  isms  as  long  as  her  arm,  and  knows  all 
the  ologies.  Her  father  is  very  rich.  She  will  be 
worth  two  or  three  millions  of  dollars,  when  he 
dies.  While  she  was  at  the  Springs,  she  still  kept 
up  her  studies.  Every  mordng,  she  devoted  one 
hour  to  chemistry,  and  every  afternoon  one  hour 
to  Bigotry. 

"Well,  sir,  I  followed  her  to  New  York,  put  up 
at  a  hotel,  and  went  to  her  father's  house.  I  sent 
up  my  card,  and  presently  a  servant  came  down 
stairs,  and  told  me  'she  was  not  at  home.'  I 
went  away,  and  called  in  the  afternoon,  and  the 
servant  came  down  and  said, '  she  was  not  at  home.' 
Then  I  called  the  next  day,  and  she  was  out  then 
too,  and  so  I  kept  calling  for  four  days,  but  never 
could  find  her  in.  These  city  ladies,  sir,  go  out 
a  great  deal.  They  have  so  much  shopping  to  do, 
and  so  many  friends  to  see,  that  it  is  really  a  hard 
thing  to  find  them  at  home.  So  I  went  back  to 
the  hotel,  and  just  made  up  my  mind  to  keep  on 
calling,  till  I  could  find  her  at  home;  and  while 
I  was  standing  in  the  parlor,  a  gentleman  came 
up,  and  commenced  conversation.  He  was  very 
friendly,  and  we  soon  became  acquainted :  while 
we  were  talking,  sir,  another  man  came  in,  and  they 
two  talked  apart  for  a  little  while.  The  other 
man  went  out,  and  soon  come  back  somewhat 


BENNETT    LEATHERS.  67 

in  liquor.  I  was  standing  up,  leaning  my  elbow 
on  the  mantlepiece,  sir,  when  this  other  man 
jostled  hard  against  me,  and  nearly  pushed  me 
down.  They  both  apologized,  and  left  the  room 
a  moment  afterward;  and  when  I  felt  in  my 
pocket,  a  short  time  after  they  went  away,  my 
pocket-book  was  gone.  I  had  barely  money 
enough  left  to  pay  my  bill,  and  bring  me  home, 
so  that  I  had  to  leave,  sir,  immediately.  I  do 
not  think  the  gentleman  who  talked  to  me  in  the 
parlor,  had  anything  to  do  with  it,  because  he 
was  the  only  man  that  said  a  civil  word  to  me 
while  I  was  in  New  York.  Everybody  else  was 
in  too  much  haste  to  speak  to  me.  He  was  a 
gentleman,  sir.  I  am  twenty-eight  years  of  age, 
sir,  and  all  my  friends  tell  me  that  I  ought  to  get 
married ;  and  I  will  do  so,  provided  I  can  suit 
myself,  sir.  I  have  two  thousand  acres  of  land 
up  in  Cabell  county ;  but  it  is  mountainous,  and 
won't  sell  yet.  It  is  full  of  mineral  ore,  and  will  be 
a  great  fortune  by-and-by ;  so  much,  that  with  my 
plantation  in  Campbell  county,  and  with  my  family 
connections,  I  think  it  right  to  marry  a  lady  of 
fortune  at  least,  if  not  of  family.  I  know  it  is 
hardly  right  to  marry  out  of  my  own  family,  sir. 
My  grandfather  married  his  first  cousin,  and  my 
father  married  his  first  cousin,  and  as  far  back  as 
I  know  or  have  heard  of,  my  ancestors  have  all 


68  BELLE   SCOTT. 

married  in  their  own  family.     A  good  plan,  sir, 
it  keeps  wealth  in  the  family,  and  prevents  those 
mesalliances  that  sometimes  come  from  marrying 
strangers.     But  I  have  but  one  cousin,  who  is 
unmarried,  and  she  is  so  deaf  that  you  have  to 
speak  to  her  through  a  tin  horn,  and  then  she 
can't  understand  more  than  half  you  say ;  and  she 
is  twice  as  old  as  I  am  too,  so  that  you  see,  sir, 
I  cannot  follow  the  good  old  time-honored  usages 
of  my  family.     I  keep  a  list  of  all  the  ladies  who 
have  received  especial  attentions  from  me,  with 
the  very  date,  when  any  particular  event  has  hap 
pened  that  has  brought  the  matter  to  a  close.     It 
numbers  twenty-nine  now,  and  if  Miss  Black  shall 
follow  the  example  of  others,  it  will  be  thirty. 
Two  years  ago,  I  went  out  to  Kentucky,  sir,  to 
see  some  relations,  and  there  I  met  with  a  young 
lady,  I  should   say  woman,  rather,  for  she  was 
larger  than  I  am ;  she  is  rich,  too,  the  daughter 
of  a  gentleman  who  sells  a  great  many  mules  and 
cattle  every  year ;  well,  I  went  to  see  her,  went 
once,  and  she  sat  and  talked  for  two  hours.     I 
went  again  and  something  was  the  matter,  so  that 
she  did  not  come  into  the  room :  I  was  in  love 
with  her,  yes,  sir,  in  love  with  her,  and  I  went 
almost  every  day  for  two  weeks.     At  last  one 
day,  just  as  I  set  my  foot  in  the  house,  the  door 
of  a  back   room  opened  a  little,  a  slight  crack 


BENNETT    LEATHERS.  69 

only,  sir ;  I  saw  her  face,  but  she  did  not  say  a 
•word  to  me.  I  turned  round  for  an  instant,  and 
a  gun  went  off,  the  whole  load  struck  me  right  on 
the  neck ;  it  knocked  me  down,  sir ;  it  was  a  shot 
gun  loaded  with  beans !  I  have  not  got  over  it 
yet ;  my  neck,  you  will  observe,  sir,  is  a  little 
stiff  now.  It  hurts  me  very  much  just  before  a 
rain ;  I  shall  outgrow  it,  I  have  no  doubt ;  the 
doctors  and  all  my  friends  tell  me  so.  I  had 
always  been  told,  sir,  before  I  went  to  Kentucky, 
that  I  must  not  expect  as  much  refinement  there, 
as  I  had  been  accustomed  to  here  in  Virginia,  and 
I  had  myself  observed,  that  when  a  young  man 
left  Virginia,  and  went  to  Kentucky  only  for  six 
months ;  when  he  came  back  his  manners  had 
not  the  softness  they  had  before  he  left :  but  I 
did  not  expect  to  find  such  rude  people  in  this 
whole  world.  I  never  set  foot  in  that  house  again, 
sir — upon  my  honor,  sir,  I  never  will.  I  came 
back  to  Virginia,  as  soon  as  I  could.  I  like  your 
doctrine,  sir.  When  I  was  a  boy,  I  went  to 
boarding-school,  kept  by  old  Dr.  Stephens  up  in 
Ainherst  county.  He  starved  us  almost  to  death, 
*ir;  gave  us  nothing  but  mush  and  molasses  for 
supper,  and  bread  and  herring  for  breakfast,  till 
we  got  to  stealing  his  geese,  and  that  brought  him 
to  his  senses,  when  he  found  out  that  we  had  roast 
goose  in  our  rooms,  almost  every  night.  A  great 


70  BELLE   SCOTT. 

sin,  that,  sir,  but  I  repented  of  it.  Well,  sir,  while 
I  was  there,  I  became  pious ;  I  got  to  be  so  pious, 
that  I  would  not  walk  as  far  as  from  here  across 
the  street  on  Sunday.  Indeed  I  would  not  have 
done  so  on  Sunday,  to  save  your  life.  I  think 
again  of  the  happy  days  I  enjoyed  when  I  was 
pious.  I  '11  do  all  I  can  to  practice  what  you  have 
told  us  to-day.  Indeed  I  will,  sir ;  upon  my  honor 
I  will,  sir.  I  have  counted  the  cost,  and  made  up 
my  mind,  and  I  will  do  it.  I  will  not  be  a  doer 
only  of  the  word,  but  a  hearer  also ;  no,  that's  not 
it ;  let  me  see  how  it  is,  sir.  I  am  afraid  I  have 
forgot  it  already.  Not  a  doer  of  the  word — no, 
(oh,  my  neck  hurts  me  so,  that  I  cannot  remem 
ber  anything  now,  as  I  used  to)  not  a  hearer  of 
the  word — but  a  doer;  that  is  it,  sir,  I  believe. 
If  you  will  go  to  Richmond,  I  will  introduce  you 
to  the  best  society  in  the  city.  Richmond  is  a 
great  place,  sir.  It  gives  law  to  the  whole  Union. 
Chief  Justice  Marshall  gave  law  to  the  one  party, 
and  half  a  dozen  of  men  there  govern  Virginia ; 
and  Virginia  rules  the  Union  by  means  of  the 
other  party.  And  so  between  them,  they  have 
governed  this  whole  Union.  Triumph  of  mind, 
of  intellect,  and  intelligence,  sir !  let  people  make 
what  form  of  government  they  please,  whether  it 
is  a  republic,  or  what  not,  gentlemen  of  birth, 
fortune  and  education,  always  will,  in  the  lono-  mn, 


BENNETT   LEATHERS.  71 

be  the  actual  rulers.  The  people  may  vote,  but 
the  gentlemen  will  settle  the  principles  they  sup 
port,  and  then  it  makes  no  difference  what  men 
are  elected  to  carry  these  principles  into  effect. 
Mr.  Stephens  told  me  so,  sir;  and  he  is  the 
greatest  lawyer,  I  believe,  in  the  whole  world." 

Mr.  St.  John  inquired,  "whether  they  were 
near  the  place,  to  which  he  was  going  ?"  "  Near  it, 
sir? — why  we  have  passed  it  almost  a  mile,  but  I 
am  so  delighted  with  your  society,  that  I  could 
but  extend  our  walk  as  far  as  possible.  Your 
ideas,  my  dear  sir,  respecting  the  slave-trade, 
exactly  coincide  with  my  own.  Slavery  is  right. 
Everybody,  whose  opinion  is  worth  having,  knows 
that,  by  this  time.  All  the  churches  that  persons, 
like  you  and  me,  sir,  care  to  go  to,  say  it  is  right. 
Well  then,  that  being  so,  of  course  it  was  right  to 
bring  the  slaves  here,  and  it  is  right  to  take  them 
to  the  new  states.  The  logic,  sir,  is  as  clear  as 
sunshine.  Do  meet  me  in  Richmond  soon;  I  have 
a  project  in  my  head,  that  I  want  to  consult  my 
friends  there  about.  I'll  mention  it  to  you  now, 
sir ;  but  in  confidence,  strict  confidence,  sir.  It  is 
this;  we  have  been  threatening  to  dissolve  the 
Union  so  long,  that  our  warnings  have  no  good 
effect,  as  they  once  had.  Now,  sir,  my  plan  is 
this ;  instead  of  telling  the  people  of  the  free  states, 
that  we  will  dissolve  the  Union  ;  let  us  threaten  to 


72  BELLE    SCOTT. 

burn  the  Capitol.  That  will  surprise  them ;  and 
it  is  so  easily  done  too.  If  we  attempt  to  dissolve 
the  Union,  the  men  that  live  up  in  the  moun 
tains,  and  on  Mud  creek,  and  Turtle  creek,  and 
in  such  places,  may  get  scared ;  and  vote  against 
the  measure,  in  our  own  State ;  but  the  other  can 
be  done  without  consulting  them  at  all.  Now,  sir, 
here 's  the  place  you  make  your  home  at,  while 
you  are  here.  I  will  write  to  you  in  a  few  days, 
and  I  hope  you  will  write  me  in  reply.  Good-by, 
sir.  Oh,  how  delighted  I  am  with  your  sermon  ! 
Rely  upon  it,  the  lessons  you  have  taught,  shall 
not  be  lost  upon  me.  I  will  be  a  hearer  of  the 
word,  and  not  a  doer  only.  Good  night,  sir." 

As  Mr.  St.  John  walked  up  the  path  that  led 
to  the  house,  he  said :  "  That  is  a  strange  young 
gentleman  indeed.  He  is  no  doubt  very  amiable." 

As  Mr.  Leathers  walked  on  his  way,  he  rubbed 
his  hands  and  said  to  himself:  "  The  very  thing- 
clear  as  sunshine.  I  wonder  that  I  never  saw  it 
so  distinctly  before,  as  I  now  do.  Sermons  are 
good  things ;  they  place  matters  upon  right  prin 
ciples,  and  enable  us,  who  have  less  leisure  to 
think  about  such  things  than  ministers ;  to  give  a 
reason,  and  a  good  one  too,  for  what  we  do  and 
believe  in.  I  always  thought,  that  free  negroes 
are  a  pest  and  a  nuisance,  and  would  be  better  off 
a  great  deal,  if  they  all  hnd  masters,  and  I  know 


BENNETT   LEATHERS.  73 

it  now.  It  will  be  better  all  round,  for  the  blacks 
and  whites,  when  all  the  negroes  and  mulattoes 
are  slaves.  They  are  not  fit  to  be  free.  They 
can't  take  care  of  themselves.  That  thought  of 
his,  about  negro  drivers  being  made  respectable, 
looks  queer.  Indeed  it  does ;  but  he  made  the 
matter  so  plain,  that  no  person  can  have  any 
doubt  now,  about  it.  I'm  glad  of  it,  I  am  very 
glad  of  it." 


CHAPTER    X. 


BENNETT    LEATHEKS. 


THE  family  of  Bennett  Leathers  had  all  the 
ancient  honor  and  respectability  which  he  claimed. 
But  he  was  poor.  True,  he  had  his  plantation  in 
Campbell  county,  and  his  immense  tract  of  wild 
land  in  Cabell  county,  but  these  yielded  him  no 
present  income.  To  supply  his  daily  wants,  he 
was  compelled  to  borrow  small  sums  of  money 
from  his  friends,  and  these  applications  had  become 
so  frequent,  that  they  were  heartily  tired  of  him. 

Soon  after  he  heard  the  sermon  of  Mr.  St. 
John,  he  met  that  gentleman  in  Richmond.  Their 
greeting  was  cordial.  "  I  am  so  glad  to  see  you," 
said  Mr.  Leathers,  "because  I  want  to  consult  you 
on  a  matter  that  may  be  of  deep  importance  to 
me.  I  know  that  I  can  confide  in  you  as  a  friend. 
Miss  Black,  sir,  continued  sick  all  the  time  I  was 
at  Burtonville,  and  I  half  believe  she  only  pre 
tended  to  be  so,  to  keep  from  seeing  me ;  because 
I  have  heard  that  the  very  day  that  I  came  away, 
she  was  out  at  a  dinner-party.  I  wanted  to  un 
bosom  myself  to  you,  dear  sir,  and  talked  of  my 
(741 


BENNETT    LEATHERS.  75 

own  affairs,  sir,  very  freely,  as  you  were  a  stranger, 
hoping  that  you  would  say  something  in  reply,  that 
would  enable  me  to  go  further,  and  open  my  whole 
heart,  but  you  did  not — you  were  silent,  sir.  I 
have  at  all  times,  since  that,  regretted  that  I  had 
not  been  more  bold,  sir,  and  asked  your  Christian 
advice." 

"  I  shall  be  very  happy  to  be  of  service  to  you,  es 
pecially  in  the  way  of  advice,"  replied  Mr.  St.  John, 

"Thank  you,  sir,  thank  you.  It's  the  very 
thing  I  want  at  this  time.  I  get  plenty  of  it  from 
others,  but  I  am  almost  sure  their  advice  would 
not  suit  me.  My  matter  is  this,  sir.  You  con 
demned  as  wrong,  the  prejudice  that  people  enter 
tain  against  gentlemen  engaged  in  the  slave-trade, 
and  their  families.  They  call  'em  soul-drivers, 
sir ;  and  reproach  'em  with  bad  names.  I  felt  the 
force  of  your  reasoning,  sir,  and  am  convinced 
that  you  are  right.  I  told  you,  too,  that  I  would 
be  a  doer,  or  a  hearer  of  the  word,  I  don't  remem 
ber  which.  Well,  now,  my  dear  sir,  the  case  with 
me,  is  just  this.  I  know  a  young  lady,  a  widow, 
good-looking  enough,  and  who  has  a  cash  capital 
of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  at  least  people 
say  so,  and  I  believe  she  has  twenty  thousand  at 
least.  Her  father  was  a  member  of  Congress,  but 
was  afterward  a  clerk  at  Washington  city,  and 
rather  poor.  She  married  a  negro-trader,  sir, 


76  BELLE   SCOTT. 

and  he  died  a  year  or  so  after  the  marriage,  leaving 
to  his  widow,  who  was  much  younger,  his  whole 
fortune.  The  family  have  lost  their  position— 
and  I  am  almost  sure  that  I  can,  win  her  heart  and 
hand,  sir.  You  see,  sir,  how  it  is  with  me — here 
is  a  splendid  fortune,  and  an  accomplished  lady; 
at  least  people  say  she  is  accomplished.  Now  how 
would  it  look  for  a  Leathers — why  sir,  one  of  my 
ancestors  was  secretary  to  a  governor  in  this  colony, 
before  the  Revolutionary  war ;  I  don't  knowr  what 
the  governor's  name  was,  but  when  I  see  cousin 
Kitty  Leathers,  she  can  tell  me — she  is  the  cousin 
who  is  so  deaf; — the  name  of  that  old  governor, 
and  the  pedigree  of  our  family,  are  almost  the  only 
things  she  knows,  sir ;  well  how  would  it  look  for 
a  Leathers  to  marry  a  negro  trader's  widow  ? 
That's  the  matter  that  troubles  me ;  I  could  marry 
a  tobacco  merchant's  daughter — I  could  do  that, 
sir,  if  she  was  rich  and  pretty — but  it  appears  to 
me  as  if  it  would  be  going  one  or  two  steps  further 
down,  to  marry  a  negro  trader's  widow.  But  I  see 
no  reason  in  it,  sir  ;  the  trade  is  lawful,  and  should 
be  respectable." 

"  Ah,  my  dear  sir,  I  see  exactly,  your  difficulty. 
Do  you  love  the  lady  ?" 

"  I  am  not  as  yet,  very  well  acquainted  with  her. 
1  have  kept  away  from  that  kind  of  people.  When 
I  meet  a  negro-trader  in  the  street,  I  <five  him  as 


BENNETT   LEATHERS.  77 

wide  a  berth  as  possible,  for  fear  that  he  may 
touch  my  clothes.  But  I  am  sure  of  one  thing, 
sir ;  I  am  so  fond  of  ladies'  society,  that  I  can  love 
any  woman  who  has  a  fortune,  and  will  accept  my 
heart.  It 's  an  easy  thing  to  fall  in  love,  sir ;  I 
have  done  so  twice  in  one  day  and  eight  or  ten 
times  in  one  trip  to  the  Springs ;  other  gentlemen 
do  so  too.  I  believe  ladies  find  it  rather  harder, 
and  but  few  of  them  can  be  deeply,  passionately  in 
love  sir,  oftener  than  once  or  twice  in  six  months. 
But  courtship  makes  love — that 's  the  sense  of 
courtship." 

"  There  is  no  wrong  in  your  wishing  a  fortune," 
replied  Mr.  St.  John ;  "  you  want  fortune,  and  the 
lady  and  her  friends  want  position.  Each  has 
what  the  other  wants.  Such  contracts  are  fair, 
when  the  matter  is  well  understood  on  both  sides ; 
and  the  parties,  it  seems  to  me,  should  be  made 
happier  by  it.  As  for  the  disgrace  that  is  sup 
posed  to  attach  to  the  lady,  because  she  is  the 
widow  of  a  slave  merchant,  that  is  all  the  result  of 
vulgar  prejudice.  The  trade  in  slaves,  is  as  well 
established  as  that  in  flour  or  tobacco  ;  and  slaves 
are  staple  commodities  as  well  as  wheat,  and  cotton 
and  corn.  Now  why  shall  the  dealer  in  sugar  and 
cotton  and  wheat  be  respectable,  and  the  merchant 
in  slaves  disgraced  ?  It  is  an  act  of  mere  childish 
folly,  and  I  do  hope  you  will  give  the  influence  of 


78  BELLE    SCOTT. 

your  family  position  to  break  down  this  prejudice. 
I  have  fully  made  up  my  mind,  to  give  my  whole 
influence  as  a  minister,  to  destroy  it  as  soon  as 
possible." 

"  Thank  you,  my  dear  sir,"  said  Mr.  Bennett, 
"  that  is  exactly  the  advice  I  want.  If  I  do  win 
the  lady,  I  shall  if  possible  have  you  to  unite  us 
in  marriage.  Hold  yourself  in  readiness,  my 
dear  sir,  for  my  courtships  are  always  short." 


CHAPTER    XI. 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE. 

"  MY  child  was  very  sick ;  she  had  a  cough  and 
fever,  and  I  believe,  would  have  died  but  for  the 
great  care  of  Mrs.  Browne.  She  afterward  got 
well  enough  to  travel,  and  I  wanted  to  go  on  as 
soon  as  we  could. 

"  In  two  days  more  Mrs.  Browne  said  we  could 
reach  Canada,  and  then,  even  if  my  master  him 
self  should  come  there,  he  could  not  take  us  away ; 
we  would  be  as  free  there  as  he  was. 

"  I  wanted  to  be  at  work  and  get  money,  so  that 
1  could,  by  my  labor,  support  myself  and  child. 
1  meant  to  send  Lucy  to  school,  and  thought  it 
might  be,  that  some  day  I  could  buy  a  bit  of  land, 
and  build  a  cabin  on  it,  and  have  a  cow  and  poultry, 
and  other  things  of  our  own.  I  wanted,  above  all 
things  in  the  world,  to  see  my  child  where  she  could 
draw  one  breath  of  air,  and  say,  *  I  am  free ! ' 

"  One  night  Mr.  Browne  got  his  wagon  ready ; 
we  bade  Mrs.  Browne  good-by ;  our  eyes  filled  with 
tears  as  we  did  so,  and  she  wiped  her  eyes  two  or 
three  times  as  she  followed  us  to  the  door. 

"We  had  gone  about  a  mile,  and  were  going  down 

(79)  ^ 


80  BELLE   SCOTT. 

a  steep  hill,  at  the  bottom  of  which  is  a  creek ; 
before  we  got  down  the  hill,  four  men  came  out 
from  some  bushes  at  the  side  of  the  road,  and 
stopped  us.  One  of  them  was  Phillips,  Mr. 
Browne's  neighbor,  who  said : 

" '  Now,  we  've  caught  you  at  it.  You  always 
denied  that  you  are  an  Abolitionist,  and  here  you 
are  caught  in  the  very  act  of  stealing  niggers. 
You  —  a  law-abiding  man,  as  you  always  say 
— are  mashing  the  whole  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  to  pieces  under  your  dirty  feet. 
You  are  throwing  contempt  on  the  laws  of  your 
countiy.  You  had  me  indicted  and  fined  for  sell 
ing  whisky  without  license,  and  it's  my  turn  now. 
Temperance  men  are  not  to  be  trusted ;  sooner  or 
later  Abolitionism  will  show  itself  in  'em.  One 
leads  right  to  the  other.' 

"  Another  man,  Jim  Bates,  came  to  me  and  said : 
'This  is  him,  and  this  is  the  same  humpback 
gal.  I  've  seen  'em  both  a  hundred  times,  and 
can  swear  to  'em  on  a  stack  of  Bibles.' 

"  They  took  us  to  Down's  tavern :  as  soon  as  we 
got  there,  the  landlady  came  in,  and  looking  at 
Lucy,  said :  ( I  know  that  dress  that  child 's  got 
on ;  it  is  made  out  of  one  of  Mrs.  Browne's  old 
ones  that  I  've  seen  her  wear  over  and  over  again.' 

"  I  cannot  tell  how  I  felt.  If  a  thunderbolt  had 
struck  Lucy  to  the  ground,  I  could  have  borne  it 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  81 

better,  but  for  her  to  be  taken  back  into  slavery— 
for  myself  to  be  sold,  as  I  was  sure  I  would  be,  far 
away  from  her,  was  too  hard  for  human  nature  to 
bear ;  I  groaned  aloud  in  the  bitter  sorrow  of  my 
heart.  When  I  looked  at  Mr.  Browne,  I  could 
find  no  help,  because  I  knew  that  for  my  child 
and  myself,  all  this  had  come  upon  him,  I  had 
begged  him  to  let  me  into  his  house  and  warm  my 
child  by  his  fire,  and  give  her  bread,  and  for  this 
he  was  a  prisoner,  and  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies. 

"  I  watched  him,  for  he  was  near  me,  and  we  were 
both  in  deep  misery ;  I  saw  him  lift  up  his  eyes, 
and  move  his  lips,  and  then  he  was  calm,  and 
looked  on  the  people  round  him,  with  the  same 
smile  with  which  he  had  always  looked  on  me. 

"  I  asked  him  to  buy  Lucy.  At  first  he  told 
me  he  had  no  money  ;  but  when  he  looked  at  her, 
and  studied  over  the  matter  a  minute  or  two,  he 
asked  her  price  of  Jim  Bates, 

"  Bates  said  that  he  had  no  right  to  sell  her ;  he 
was  to  arrest  her  and  myself  and  take  us  back  to 
our  master:  but  that  he  would  not  sell  her  for 
two  thousand  dollars,  if  he  could.  '  I  'd  rather,' 
he  said,  'take  back  one  runaway  nigger,  even 
if  she  is  but  a  humpbacked  girl,  than  have  any 
man's  ten  thousand  dollars.' 

The  next  morning  we  were  put  into  a  wagon, 
and  started  back.  As  they  were  taking  us  out 


82  BELLE    SCOIT 

of  the  State  of  Ohio,  I  still  hoped  that  something 
would  happen,  so  that  we  would  be  free.  Every 
person  that  met  us,  I  thought,  would  be  a  friend, 
and  give  us  help;  but  they  rode  by  as  if  our 
distress  was  no  concern  of  theirs.  We  came  to 
the  Ohio  river,  and  were  ferried  over  it,  Hope 
died  in  my  heart.  The  whole  world  looked  black, 
and  the  air  seemed  heavy.  Before  me  was  a  life 
of  bondage,  without  mercy  for  my  child  and  for 
myself;  the  looks  of  a  sullen  master,  the  whip, 
separation  from  my  child,  and  slavery  for  life. 
The  world  seemed  as  if  no  God  was  in  it  or  above 
it.  My  heart  swelled  too  full  for  tears.  Death  ! 
I  would  gladly  have  died  ! 

"  We  were  taken  to  our  master's  house.  He  was 
glad  to  see  us,  but  very  angry  that  I  had  run  off. 
He  told  me  that  this  caper  of  mine  had  run  him 
in  debt  five  hundred  dollars,  and  would  break 
him  up.  I  told  him  I  was  afraid  I  would  be  sold 
from  my  child,  and  that  was  my  reason  for  doing 
as  I  had  done.  He  put  us  together  at  first,  in 
an  upper  room  in  his  house,  and  tied  my  hands 
to  a  ring  in  the  wall.  After  a  few  days  I  was 
taken  to  my  quarters,  with  Lucy,  and  tied ;  and  a 
white  man  left  to  keep  guard  over  us.  On  the 
same  day  a  man  came  and  bought  me.  He  gave 
a  thousand  dollars  for  me,  put  a  manacle  on  my 
wrists,  and  told  me  to  move  off." 


CHAP  TEE    XII. 


THE    WEDDING. 


THE  guests  had  gathered  at  the  house  of  Mrs. 
Tullis,  to  attend  her  wedding.  All  the  family  of 
the  Leathers'  who  could  attend,  were  there,  includ 
ing  the  first  and  second  and  other  cousins,  in 
degrees  so  distant,  that  no  one  except  cousin 
Betty  Leathers,  could  tell  the  exact  relationship. 

Cousin  Betty,  dressed  in  an  old-fashioned,  faded 
brown  silk,  represented  the  ladies  of  the  family  of 
the  bridegroom.  She  had  stiif  brown  hair,  some 
what  gray,  large,  watery  blue  eyes,  and  a  large 
nose.  She  held  in  one  hand  a  box  filled  with 
Scotch  snuff,  and  in  the  other  a  tin  horn. 

The  fat  bride  glittered  in  jewels.  Her  head 
rested  upon  her  shoulders,  without  the  apparent 
intervention  of  a  neck,  but  under  her  chin  was 
a  gold  chain,  three  strands  of  which  distinctly 
enough  marked  the  place  where  the  neck  is  in 
other  persons.  Her  fingers  were  adorned  with 
rings,  three  of  four  of  which  were  set  with  dia 
monds.  The  lady  of  course  had  invited  her 
friends,  and  her  three  sisters  older  than  herself, 


84  BELLE    SCOTT. 

Miss  Eupheinia  Strong,  Miss  Clara  Strong,  and 
Miss  Mary  Strong  were  present. 

Our  friend  Bennett  had  cast  off  forever  the 
rusty  suit,  which  he  had  worn  so  long  that  it 
seemed  to  be  part  of  his  identity.  lie  was 
dressed  as  a  member  of  so  ancient  a  family  should 
be  on  his  wedding  day,  and  on  one  of  his  fingers 
was  a  ring  set  with  a  large  diamond. 

The  friends  of  the  parties,  had  before  been 
nearly  strangers  to  each  other ;  and  when  Miss 
Betty  Leathers  was  introduced  to  Mr.  Conway,  a 
gentleman  who  had  been  partner  of  Mr.  Tullis, 
the  former  husband  of  the  bride,  and  who  was 
engaged  in  the  profitable  business  of  slave-trader, 
the  lady  stood  quite  erect,  much  more  so  than 
any  person  present  had  seen  her  stand  for  ten 
years  before,  and  slowly  and  coldly  extended  her 
hand  to  the  gentleman.  Mr.  Conway,  on  his  part, 
although  he  could  not  but  observe  the  coldness 
of  her  manner,  seemed  to  care  but  little  about  it. 
He  shook  his  great  bunch  of  watch  seals,  and 
adjusted  a  diamond  pin.  The  Leathers',  with  the 
exception  of  Bennett,  had  no  diamonds. 

The  coolness  of  cousin  Kitty,  to  the  guests  in 
vited  by  the  bride,  seemed  to  be  contagious.  All 
the  friends  and  relations  of  the  bridegroom,  by 
some  apparent  accident,  had  collected  in  groups 
in  one  end  of  the  room,  while  those  of  the  bride? 


THE    WEDDING.  85 

including   her   sisters,  were  some  seated,  others 
standing  at  the  opposite  end. 

Miss  Euphemia  Strong,  was  entertained  by  Mr. 
Harrison,  a  gentleman  who  had  a  plantation  in 
the  interior  of  the  state  :  for  some  cause,  connected 
probably,  with  his  own  interest,  he  was  often  in 
the  society  of  Mr.  Conway  and  his  partner.  He 
had  been  engaged  in  buying  slaves,  to  stock,  as 
he  said,  his  plantation  in  Arkansas ;  but  although 
he  had  been  stocking  it  for  ten  vears,  he  was  still 

•x  / 

buying  more,  it  was  so  large  ! 

Miss  Euphemia  asked  the  gentleman,  if  he  had 
read  a  new  novel  of  Cooper's. 

"  La !  no,  miss,  I  never  reads  novels ;  I  got  no 
time  to  read  anything  else  but  newspapers,  and  I 
read  precious  little  of  them.  I  read  one  novel 
once  half  through,  when  I  was  a  boy,  and  that  made 
my  ha'r  stand  up  on  end,  so  that  I  have  never 
touched  another  one,  since  that  time." 

"  Oh  dear  me  !  how  dreadful  a-one  it  must  have 
been,  Mr.  Harrison,  what  was  it  ?" 

"  It  was  the  '  Mysterious  Rhodolpho,'  or  some 
such  name,  full  of  ghosts  and  horrors.  I  do 
think  that  such  books  ought  not  be  printed.'1 

"  Our  literature.  Mr.  Conway,  has  been  some 
what  improved  of  late  years.  We  have  now,  in 
America,  writers  who  can  successfuly  compete 
with  those  of  whom  Europe  is  proud." 


86  BELLE   SCOTT. 

"  I  don't  know  anything  about  that,  Miss,  and  to 
tell  you  the  honest  truth,  I  don't  care  a  button 
about  it ;  I  see  no  use  in  'em  all — what  good  do 
they  do?  They  don't  help  a  man  to  make 
money." 

"  But,  sir,  they  cultivate  the  taste,  and  some  of 
them  have  a  happy  effect  upon  the  morals  of  the 
young." 

"  I  never  see  any  use  in  reading  much,  any 
how — them  that  don't  read  at  all,  get  along  just 
as  well  as  them  as  does.  I  know  several  gentle 
men,  who  can't  read  a  word,  and  they  make  just 
as  good  livings,  have  as  large  plantations,  and  as 
many  negroes  and  other  stock,  as  if  they  could 
read.  They  raise  just  as  good  wheat  and  corn, 
and  as  much  tobacco  and  cotton,  as  men  does 
that  reads  more  or  less,  every  day  of  their 
lives." 

"  On  this  you  are  quite  radical  in  your  views 
on  education.  If  they  were  carried  out  into 
practice,  it  seems  to  me,  that  the  world  would 
retrograde." 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean  by  retrograde ; 
it  seems  to  me  if  its  like  going  back  a  little. 
Well,  I  am  in  favor  of  that — going  back,  Miss,  to 
the  good  old  times  of  our  forefathers — people  had 
not  so  much  trouble  then  as  we  have  now.  Then 
men  bought  and  sold  what  they  pleased,  and  how 


THE    WINDING.  87 

they  pleased,  and  it  was  nobody's  business  but 
their  own ;  now  everybody  is  peeping  and  prying 
into  everybody's  matters,  and  everything  that  we 
do,  is  put  in  the  newspapers.  How  do  I  know 
but  the  very  same  words  that  I  am  telling  to  you 
now,  and  you  to  me,  will  be  in  print  before  I  die ! 
Now,  if  so  many  people  could  not  read,  all  this 
fuss  would  be  put  an  end  to." 

"  Good  evening,  cousin  Betty.  I  have  not  seen 
you  for  a  year,"  said  Mr.  Walters  as  he  took  a 
seat  beside  her. 

"  Yes,  it  is  a  new  thing  in  our  family,"  screamed 
cousin  Betty,  "for  a  Leathers  to  marry  a  negro 
trader's  widow.  But  things  are  changed  now — 
fashions  change,  and  men  change  with  them,  you 
know.  Mr.  St.  John  tells  me  that  it's  all  right, 
and  the  best  people  in  the  country  approve  of  it. 
Who  would  have  thought  that  a  great-great-grand 
son  of  the  secretary  of  Governor  Berkley — a 
Leathers — would  marry  a  negro  trader's  widow ! 
I  thought  Bennett,  cousin  Bennett  ought  to  have 
married  in  his  own  family,  among  his  own  people, 
as  the  patriarchs  did ;  his  father  and  grandfather 
and  great-grandfather,  each  married  a  first  cousin. 
It 's  always  been  the  rule  among  us,  you  know, 
cousin  Thomas ;  but  fashions  change  so,  we  can't 
keep  the  run  of  them." 

"Yes,"    said    Mr.   Walters,    "fashions    have 


00  BELLE   SCOTT. 

changed   somewhat  since  you  and  I  came  into 
society." 

"  I  believe  so.  Yes,  they  say  her  father  was  a 
member  of  Congress,  and  afterward  a  clerk  in  one 
of  the  departments  at  Washington  city.  But  I 
have  inquired  into  the  matter  a  little  further,  since 

1  heard  of  their  engagement.     He  was  a  congress 
man  and  a  clerk,  but  before  that  he  was  only  a 
schoolmaster. 

"  In  my  younger  days  it  was  not  thought  right 
for  a  gentleman  of  family,  as  ours  is,  to  marry  out 
of  the  circle  of  his  own  early  associates.  But  now, 
if  anybody  has  money — why  anybody  can  marry 
a  gentleman.  I  don't  know  but  that  it's  all  well 
enough — some  people  need  position,  and  others 
need  money,  and  when  they  unite,  each  gets  what 
he  and  she  wants,  and  both  of  them  are  suited." 

While  Miss  Betty  and  Mr.  Con  way  were  still  at 
tempting  to  converse,  Mr.  Conway's  little  daughter 
came,  and  leaning  her  head  on  his  shoulder,  said : 

"Papa,  I  want  you  to  do  something  for  me." 

«  What  is  it,  my  child  ?  " 

"Oh  but  I  want  you  to  promise  to  do  it,  and 
then  I  '11  tell  you." 

"  Let  me  hear  it  first.  I  will  do  what  I  can  to 
make  you  happy,"  he  said,  as  he  patted  her  cheek. 

"  Papa,  I  want  you  to  get  teeth  for  me,  just  like 
the  bride's.  I  was  in  her  room  to-day,  and  she 


THE    WEDDING.  89 

took  all  her  teeth  out,  and  put  them  in  a  tumbler 
of  water  and  let  them  stay  there  a  good  while,  and 
then  rubbed  them  with  a  brush  and  a  towel,  and 
fixed  'em  in  her  mouth  again.  Oh  it  was  so  nice." 

"  Mr.  Conway  smiled,  and  stroked  her  hair,  and 
told  her  it  would  make  her  mouth  bleed  to  put 
them  in," 

"  What  is  it  the  child  wants,  screamed  cousin 
Betty.  I  heard  you  say  something  about  bleed 
or  blood,  Mr.  Conway.  They  called  it  blood-money 
when  I  first  came  into  society ;  and  some  people 
who  sold  their  servants,  never  would  buy  food  or 
furniture,  or  build  houses  with  the  money ;  they 
thought  ill  luck  would  follow  it.  Yes,  they  always 
called  it  blood-money,  when  I  was  a  girl — a  little 
girl,  I  mean,  Mr.  Conway,  But  Mr.  St.  John  tells 
me  that  these  opinions  are  now  discarded  as  idle 
superstitions,  and  people  prize  such  money  as 
greatly  as  any  other.  What  is  it  the  child  wants?" 

"  Oh,  said  Mr,  Conway,  she  has  a  childish  fancy 
about  dentistry,  that  will  be  forgotten  to-morrow.7' 

'•Yes,  people  forget  very  soon  nowadays.  It 
was  not  so  when  I  was  a  little  girl.  Then  we 
could  remember  the  grandfathers  of  almost  every 
person  in  the  whole  country.  There  's  the  Fol- 
lingsbys ;  I  remember  old  Follingsby ;  he  was  an 
Englishman.  He  was  a  stocking-weaver,  sir ;  and 
now  the  Follingsbys  are  among  the  first  families 


90  BELLE    SCOTT. 

in  the  land.  They  own  the  whole  estate  at  Rye- 
croft,  and  live  in  the  mansion  built  by  Mrs. 
Ryecroft,  while  her  husband  was  away  at  Con 
gress.  She  run  him  in  debt  ten  thousand  dollars 
for  it,  and  broke  him  up.  And  there 's  the 
Pierces.  I  knew  old  Pierce.  He  was  my  father's 
distiller.  His  sons  were  merchants ;  and  now  his 
grandchildren  are  married  with  the  best  blood  of 
the  whole  country,  and  have  all  forgotten  that  I 
know  their  ancestor  was  a  distiller ;  and  they  live 
at  the  Oaklands.  And  the  whole  family  of 
Barnetts,  who  once  owned  that  fine  estate,  have 
moved  off  to  Missouri.  And  then  there 's  the 
Mowbrys.  I  knew  their  grandfather  very  well. 
He  was  my  father's  overseer.  Many  's  the  time 
he  has  carried  me  to  school,  when  I  was  a  little 
girl,  and  now  his  descendants  are  great  planters, 
in  Louisiana,  and  Lave  a  great  many  servants. 

"  Yes,  the  child  is  right,  Mr.  Conway,  people  do 
forget  very  soon  nowadays.  Times  have  changed, 
and  some  people  have  changed  a  good  deal  with 
them.  I  don't  think  cousin  Bennett  has  changed 
much.  But  it  does  look  queer,  Mr.  Conway,  indeed 
it  does,  to  see  a  Leathers,  sir — a  Leathers — marry 
a  negro  trader's  widow !  But  Mr.  St.  John  says 
that  it  is  all  right  and  I  suppose  it  must  be  so." 

Miss  Strong  said  in  a  low  voice  to  Mr.  Sat- 
terby,  a  negro-trader,  seated  by  her :  "  My  sister 


THE  WEDDING.  91 

has  been  a  widow  eighteen  months,  and  has  dis 
couraged  the  advances  of  half  a  dozen  gentlemen, 
during  her  widowhood.  She  has  now  accepted 
Mr.  Leathers,  and  it  really  seems  as  if  some  of  his 
friends  think  the  alliance  quite  a  condescension  on 
his  part.  I  assure  you,  that  Mr.  Leathers  was 
importunate  in  his  courtship,  so  much  so,  that  he 
sometimes  called  on  my  sister  three  or  four  times 
in  one  day.  He  was  deeply  in  love,  and  you 
know,  my  dear  sir,  that  Cupid's  flames  spread 
rapidly  in  the  poor,  weak,  female  heart.  You 
gentlemen,  have  nothing  to  do  but  become  deeply 
in  love  yourselves,  and  then  in  spite  of  all  our 
efforts,  you  are  irresistible.  A  life  of  single 
blessedness,  I  know,  is  a  happy  one,  but  in  some 
way  you  manage  to  convince  us,  that  a  life  of 
double  blessedness  is  twice  as  happy." 

Mr.  Satterby  said,  "  That  no  gentleman,  could 
doubt  that,  in  her  presence."1 

"  Oh,  you  wicked  man !  how  you  flatter,"  said 
she,  tapping  him  gently  with  her  fan.  "  If  you 
will  visit  Washington  city,  I  will  take  great  pleas 
ure  in  showing  you,  whoever  and  whatever  is 
worth  your  attention  in  it.  There  are  delightful 
walks  around  the  Capitol,  and  it  is  so  pleasant  to 
wander  in  them  with  a  friend, — one  who  can  ap 
preciate  you,  and  whose  sentiments  are  but  the 
echoes  of  your  own." 


92  BELLE   SCOTT. 

Mr.  Satterby  replied,  "  That  it  must  be  roman 
tic  indeed.  If  he  could  possibly  spare  the  time 
from  his  business,  he  would  avail  himself  of  her 
invitation,  and  did  not  doubt  that,  in  her  society, 
his  enjoyment  would  be  greater  than  ever  he  had 
experienced  before." 

Miss  Strong  gave  him  a  sweet  look,  tapped  him 
again  with  her  fan,  and  left  the  room. 


CHAPTER     XIII. 


THE     WHTPPING-POST. 


ABOUT  twilight  on  the  evening  of  the  day  of  the 
wedding  of  Bennett  Leathers,  another  and  more 
motley  crowd  was  gathered  before  the  door  of  the 
court-house,  in  the  same  city.  A  large  square, 
open  at  all  sides  except  the  south,  on  that  side 
near  its  eastern  end,  was  a  row  of  brick-houses. 
The  lower  rooms  were  occupied  some  as  retail, 
others  as  wholesale  liquor  stores.  The  upper 
apartments  seemed  to  be  sailors'  boarding-houses. 
In  front  of  this  row,  shaded  by  a  grove  of  locust 
and  poplar  trees,  stood  the  red  whipping-post,  tall 
and  massive,  with  the  stocks  in  a  kind  of  second 
story.  It  stood  at  right  angles  with  the  buildings, 
so  that  one  end  of  it  fronted  the  court-house  door, 
and  the  other  the  liquor  shops.  The  dense  crowd 
pressed  in  mass  toward  the  whipping-post.  In  the 
midst  of  it  was  a  man  dressed  in  a  velvet  round 
about,  with  a  red  kerchief  round  his  neck ;  in  one 
hand  he  held  a  blue  cowskin ;  with  the  other  he 
grasped  a  tall,  spare  mulatto  woman. 

On  each  side  of  the  pillar  of  the  whipping-post, 

8 


94  BELLE   SCOTT. 

which  was  next  to  the  court-house,  were  iron  clasps 
large  enough  to  inclose  the  wrists  of  a  person,  with 
fastenings  to  keep  them  in  their  place.  The  feet 
were  secured  by  placing  them  in  holes  in  the 
platform,  large  enough  to  admit  the  ankles  of  the 
sufferer,  and  then  the  boards  were,  by  wedges, 
driven  back  to  their  place.  In  this  machine  Minte, 
the  mulatto  woman,  was  placed,  The  man  then 
unbuttoned  her  dress,  and  exposed  about  as  much 
of  her  back  between  the  shoulder-blades,  as  could 
be  covered  with  his  hands.  While  he  was  doing 
this,  a  crowd  of  boys  had  climbed  upon  the 
upper  apartment  of  the  whipping-post,  and  others 
had  seated  themselves  on  the  branches  of  the 
surrounding  trees.  When  all  was  ready,  the  man 
said,  in  a  loud  voice :  "  Stand  back,  men,  and  keep 
silence,  while  the  law  takes  its  course/'  The  hum 
of  voices  ceased,  and  all  were  silent  in  an  instant. 
He  then  said  to  the  crowd : 

"This  here  nigger  wench,  has  murdered  her 
master's  child,  and  she  won't  confess  and  tell  where 
she  has  hid  the  body.  The  bird  that  ken  sing 
and  won't  sing,  must  be  made  to  sing,  and  I  'm  the 
man  to  make  her  do  it. 

"Now,"  said  he,  addressing  the  woman,  "I 
don't  want  to  whip  you — indeed  it  hurts  my  feel 
ings  always  whenever  I  have  to  whip  anybody, 
white  or  black  ;  but  I  am  a  sworn  officer  and  must 


THE  WHIPPING-POST.  90 

do  my  duty  to  my  country.  Come  now,  own  it 
up,  and  I  '11  take  you  right  back  to  jail  without 
hitting  you  even  once." 

"Indeed,  master  Blue,  afore  God,  I  never 
harmed  that  child  in  all  the  days  of  my  life.  If  I 
was  a-going  to  the  judgment  this  very  minute,  I 
would  tell  you  what  I  have  always  told  you,  and 
everybody  else — that  I  am  just  as  innocent  of 
harm  to  that  child  as  an  angel  in  heaven.  Oh, 
remember  that  I  am  human  nature  as  well  as 
you ;  don't  whip  me — for  God's  sake,  don't  whip 
me.  I  never  was  whipped  in  my  life." 

Stand  back,  men,  shouted  Mr.  Blue,  and  then 
stepping  back  he  brought  down  his  cowhide 
with  skill  between  the  shoulders  of  Minte.  A 
loud,  piercing  shriek — a  quivering  of  every  muscle 
in  her  frame — a  look  of  intense  agony  upon  her 
countenance,  followed  the  blow.  There  was  a 
pause  for  an  instant,  and  then  four  other  blows, 
each  harder  than  the  preceding,  quickly  followed. 
Minte 's  head  dropped  upon  her  shoulder — she  was 
silent  as  if  dead.  Blue  paused.  "Now,"  said  he, 
"  you  've  had  five ;  you  've  got  to  take  nine-and- 
thirty  to-day,  and  as  much  more  another  time — 
and  this  is  only  the  beginning."  Minte  in  a  low 
voice  said: 

"Mr.  Blue,  Oh  God !  Mr.  Blue,  I  no  more  did 


90  BELLE   SCOTT. 

it  than  your  mother  did.  I  am  not  a  liar.  Oh  ! 
for  God's  sake  let  me  go  or  kill  me  right  out — 
don't  torture  me  to  death." 

Blue  stepped  back  again,  and  five  other  blows 
rapidly  fell  upon  the  quivering  form  of  his  now 
silent  victim;  blood  followed  each  blow,  and  the  torn 
flesh  hung  in  shreds  upon  her  back.  He  paused, 
and  opened  her  dress,  so  as  to  expose  still  more 
of  her  person.  "  Now,"  said  he,  "  I  have  given  it 
to  you  in  doses  of  five  at  a  time.  I  '11  give  you 
one  dose  of  nine,  and  another  of  ten ;  but  it  does 
hurt  my  feelings,  you  may  depend  on  it ;  and  I'll 
stop  the  very  moment  you  confess." 

«  Oh,  Mr.  Blue !  what  can  I  say  ?  Oh  God  ! 
Oh  Christ!  what  can  I  do?  I  no  more  killed 
that  child,  than  I  killed  yours ;  I  loved  it  most  as 
well  as  my  own.  Oh,  men,  have  mercy  on  me ! 
Oh,  God,  have  mercy  on  me !" 

"Have  mercy  on  yourself,  and  own  up;  you 
might  as  well  do  it  first,  as  last.  I  tell  you  that 
you  will  have  to  be  whipped  on  three  several 
days,  till  you  confess.  The  committee  has  ordered 
it,  and  it  must  be  done,  and  can't  be  helped ;  you've 
only  had  ten,  and  on  sound  flesh  too — think  of 
nine-and-thirty  to-day,  and  nine-and-thirty  more 
on  the  top  of  that  when  it  gets  just  about  half 
well ;  when  it  will  be  tender  as  your  eye  ;  so  tender. 


THE   WHIPPING-POST.  97 

that  you  will  scream,  when  the  doctor  only  touches 
it  with  his  little  finger.  Come,  don't  be  a  fool, 
own  the  thing  at  once,  and  save  your  feelings." 

Minte  returned  no  answer ;  her  head  hung  down 
heavily  upon  her  shoulder.  The  look  of  agony 
had  left  her  countenance;  her  muscles  were  all 
still.  Blue  threw  some  water  in  her  face;  she 
started,  and  then  he  again  stepped  back,  and 
applied  the  cowskin  with  fury.  A  boy  seated 
overhead  called  out,  "She  confesses  !  she  confesses  ! 
stop,  Mr.  Blue."  Mr.  Blue  stopped.  "Do  you 
confess  now  that  you  killed  the  child  ?"  A  low 
"Yes,"  followed  his  question,  and  Minte  was 
released  and  carried  by  two  men  back  to  jail. 

"  She  ought  to  be  hung  at  once,"  said  a  by 
stander.  "  If  a  negro  nurse  should  kill  my  child, 
as  she  did  that  of  her  mistress,  I  would  never 
put  the  court  to  the  trouble  of  trying  her." 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  person  addressed ;  "  we  are 
too  lenient  entirely,  too  much  so,  sir.  No  man's 
family  is  safe  now-day s.  Only  last  week,  another 
case  of  the  same  kind  occurred  in  Mississippi ;  and 
they  will  constantly  occur  till  more  stringent  laws 
shall  be  adopted,  to  put  a  stop  to  such  wicked 


ness." 


"  I  want  no  more  law,"  said  the  first  speaker : 
"  let  every  man  avenge  his  own  wrongs,  and  these 
things  will  soon  be  stopped." 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


MINTE  8    TKIAL. 


AT  nine  o'clock  on  Monday  morning,  three 
weeks  afterward,  the  same  court-house  yard  was 
filled  with  people.  Politicians  canvassing  for  votes 
at  the  approaching  election;  peddlers  exposing 
their  goods  and  trinkets  for  sale ;  old  women  stood 
behind  stalls  covered  with  apples,  cakes  and  can 
dies  ;  men  were  passing  through  the  crowd,  with 
maps  and  books  for  exhibition  and  sale.  It  was 
Quarterly  Court.  The  first  case  to  be  tried  by 
the  magistrates,  was  that  of  the  negro  woman 
Minte,  charged  with  murdering  a  child  she  had  to 
nurse. 

To  this  charge  Minte  plead  not  guilty ;  upon 
being  asked  by  the  court,  she  stated  that  she  had 
no  counsel,  and  had  no  means  to  pay  counsel  for 
her  defense.  The  long  and  elevated  seat  usually 
occupied  by  the  Judge  of  the  circuit  court,  was 
filled  with  magistrates.  Four  only  seemed  to  be 
actively  engaged  in  the  trial.  The  others  occa 
sionally  stood  up ;  or  one  at  a  time  left  the  bench, 
and  after  a  brief  visit  to  the  tavern,  returned.  Most 

(98) 


MINTE'S  TRIAL.  99 

of  them  were  gray-haired  country  gentlemen.  Two 
of  them  were  lawyers  who  had  retired  early  from 
the  profession,  and  were  now  living  on  their  estates 
as  planters.  The  magistrates  consulted  for  a  few 
minutes  and  called  up  John  Hansard,  Esq.,  a 
young  gentleman  who  had  recently  been  admitted 
to  practice,  and  asked  if  he  was  willing  to  under 
take  her  defense  ?  The  gentleman  assented,  and 
they  then  asked  Minte,  whether  she  was  willing 
to  be  defended  by  him?  A  sullen  look  and  a 
gruff  "  Yes"  from  Minte,  was  the  reply ;  and  the 
trial  began. 

Mr.  Hansard  claimed  for  his  client  a  jury ;  not, 
he  said,  that  he  doubted  at  all  either  the  fairness 
or  the  capacity  of  the  honorable  court :  to  do  so 
would  be  evidence  only  of  folly  and  presumption ; 
but  he  thought,  and  even  insisted,  that  no  trial 
could  be  had  by  law,  where  the  charge  involved  the 
life  of  the  accused,  without  the  intervention  of  a  jury. 
The  district  attorney  was  never  more  surprised 
in  his  life,  than  by  the  assertion  of  such  a  claim. 
In  all  his  long  practice  in  that  court,  this  was  the 
first  time  that  it  had  ever  been  made  where  a 
negro  or  mulatto  stood  for  trial.  If  the  accused 
have  a  jury  at  all,  it  must  be  a  jury  of  her  peers. 
The  only  peers  of  the  accused  were  persons  of  her 
own  color :  all  others  were  in  fact,  and  by  law,  her 
superiors. 


100  UELLK   SCOTT. 

The  court  overruled  the  motion  for  a  jury. 
Witnesses  were  called,  and  it  appeared  from  their 
statements,  that  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  had  a  child 
of  her  own,  and  was  employed  by  Mr.  Scott  to 
nurse  his  child.  That  Mr.  Scott  lived  in  the 
country,  and  had  come  down  to  the  city  to  remain 
but  a  few  weeks,  principally  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  the  advice  of  experienced  physicians  for 
his  wife,  who  was  in  bad  health.  She  was,  how 
ever,  able  to  visit  her  friends.  That  about  the 
middle  of  the  afternoon,  of  the  day  on  which  it 
was  charged  that  the  murder  had  been  committed, 
Mrs.  Scott,  in  a  moment  of  irritation  at  some  petty 
misconduct  of  Minte's  child,  had  called  it  a  brat, 
and  shaken  it  by  the  shoulder  as  Minte  was  en 
tering  the  room ;  that  Minte  flew  into  a  paroxysm 
of  rage,  and  abused  Mrs.  Scott  to  her  face,  and 
when  ordered  out  of  the  room,  muttered  something 
which  Mrs.  Scott  could  not  distinctly  hear,  but 
which  she  thought  was  a  threat  of  evil  toward 
herself  or  some  member  of  her  family.  She  saw 
but  little  of  Minte  during  the  day,  and  when  she 
did  so,  she  was  silent  and  sullen.  She  was  invited 
to  take  tea  with  a  friend  on  that  evening,  and  went 
early  with  her  husband,  leaving  the  child  in  the 
care  of  Minte.  She  returned  about  eleven  that 
night,  and  retired,  supposing  that,  as  usual,  Minte 
had  the  child  in  her  care :  and  knew  no  better 


MINTE'S  TRIAL.  101 

till  she  caine  down  to  breakfast  about  eight  o'clock 
the  next  day,  when  she  learned  from  Minte  that 
the  child  was  missing.  Diligent  search  was  im 
mediately  made  for  it  in  all  parts  of  the  city — 
the  river,  ponds  and  wells  were  examined,  adver 
tisements  were  inserted  in  the  newspapers,  offering 
large  rewards  for  the  discovery  of  the  child,  but 
all  without  success.  All  hope  of  finding  her  body 
was  now  over,  and  all  effort  to  do  so  abandoned. 
The  district  attorney  now  called  up  Mr.  Blue, 
but  his  evidence  was  objected  to,  on  the  ground 
that  the  confessions  had  been  obtained  by  torture 
from  the  prisoner.  Blue  stated  with  accuracy 
what  he  had  done,  and  by  whose  orders  he  had 
done  it.  One  of  the  magistrates,  Colonel  Thorn 
ton,  declared,  that  for  his  part  he  was  not  only 
opposed  to  hearing  evidence  obtained  by  such 
means ;  but  if  his  colleagues  concurred,  would  go 
further,  and  take  proper  means  to  secure  the 
punishment  of  Blue  and  his  aiders  and  abettors 
for  the  outrages  they  had  inflicted  upon  the 
prisoner.  He  was  pained  to  hear  that  the  practice 
of  torturing  colored  persons  accused  of  crimes,  was 
not  of  unfrequent  occurrence.  There  was  no  law 
that  authorized  it ;  it  was  directly  in  violation  of 
law  as  well  as  of  common  sense  and  humanity. 
Confessions  of  guilt,  made  under  circumstances 
when  the  party  making  them  could  not  deliberate, 

9 


102  BELLE   SCOTT. 

were  of  no  value.     They  proved  only  the  pain  of 
the  accused,  not  their  guilt. 

The  other  magistrates  decided  that  Blue  should 
be  sworn  as  a  witness,  and  tell  all  that  he  knew ; 
they  would  hear  his  statements ;  of  course  they 
would  not  be  taken  into  consideration,  when  they 
deliberated  upon  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the 
accused.  They  would  sift  it  after  they  heard  it  all. 

Blue  then  said  :  "  If  it  please  your  honors,  this 
here  wench  was  brought  to  jail,  the  next  day  after 
she  murdered  the  child,  early  in  the  forenoon.  I 
axed  her  about  it,  and  she  said  she  had  nothing 
to  do  with  killing  of  the  child,  and  did  not  know 
who  did  kill  it.  She  pretended  she  liked  the 
child  mighty  well,  and  always  used  it  just  as  well 
as  she  used  her  own.  She  said  she  was  a  free 
woman,  and  could  have  left  her  place  with  Mr. 
Scott,  who  was  stopping  at  the  Washington  Hotel, 
just  as  easy  as  not  if  she  had  chose  to  do  so.  I 
axed  her  almost  every  day  for  two  weeks,  and  she 
got  so  sullen  at  last,  that  she  wouldn't  talk  to  me 
any  more  about  it.  The  Vigilance  Committee'' 
(here  Col.  Wilbur  stopped  him  and  told  him  to 
say  nothing  more  about  that  committee.  It  was 
an  association  not  warranted  by  law  ;  formed,  as  he 
believed,  for  illegal  purposes).  Blue  apologized, 
the  other  magistrates  however  told  him  to  tell  the 
whole  story,  and  Blue  proceeded.  "Well,  I  took 


MINTE'S  TRIAL.  103 

her  to  the  whipping-post,  and  after  I  had  drawn  a 
few  drops  of  her  claret,  she  did  confess  that  she 
murdered  the  child.  All  that  night  afterward 
she  never  spoke  one  word,  and  the  next  day  she 
would  not  eat  or  drink,  and  laid  on  the  floor  of 
the  cell  curled  up  in  one  corner,  making  once  in  a 
while  a  great  fuss  and  groaning.  When  she  began 
to  talk  again,  which  she  did  in  two  days  after 
ward,  she  denied  worse  than  ever  that  she  had 
killed  the  child,  and  still  kept  on  doing  so  from 
that  day  to  this." 

A  few  persons  appeared  as  witnesses  for  the  pri 
soner.  They  knew  nothing  of  the  circumstances 
attending  the  child's  death,  but  had  known  Minte 
two  or  three  years,  and  she  always  was  an  honest, 
industrious  woman — hasty  in  her  temper,  and  when 
angry,  turbulent  in  her  language,  but  it  was  soon 
over  and  then  she  was  as  kind  and  obedient  as  ever. 

The  case  was  argued  at  great  length  by  the 
respective  lawyers.  The  arguments  were  listened 
to  with  attention,  and  then  the  magistrates  drew 
their  chairs  together  and  consulted  about  half  an 
hour :  seven  were  now  on  the  bench.  Two  thought 
the  evidence  insufficient.  The  other  five,  believed 
the  prisoner  guilty.  Minte  heard  this  opinion 
without  any  change  of  countenance.  She  was 
then  asked  what  she  had  to  say,  why  sentence  of 
death  should  not  be  pronounced  against  her. 


104  BELLE    SCOTT. 

At  first  she  made  no  reply,  but  when  the  ques 
tion  was  again  asked,  and  the  matter  explained  to 
her,  she  rose  and  said :  "  Gentlemen,  I  didn't  kill 
that  child  at  all.  I'm  just  as  innocent  of  it,  as 
anybody  can  be.  After  I  gave  the  two  children 
their  suppers,  I  took  them  up-stairs  and  laid  them 
on  my  bed  without  undressing  them,  and  I  sat  by 
them  till  they  both  got  to  sleep.  Then  I  went 
out,  and  was  not  gone  more  than  five  minutes, 
and  when  I  came  back  this  child  was  gone.  I 
was  scared  at  ['.r^t,  and  did  not  know  what  to 
think  about  it,  but  I  thought  that  as  Mrs.  Scott 
was  going  out  that  evening,  and  I  had  my  own 
child  to  take  care  of,  that  she  had  sent  for  her 
child  as  she  often  had  done,  and  got  another 
servant  to  take  it  with  her.  I  went  to  sleep 
soon  afterward  and  never  knew,  till  next  day, 
that  the  child  was  gone  clean  away.  Then  they 
took  me  up  and  put  me  in  jail,  and  that's  all  1 
know  'bout  it.  You  can  hang  me  if  you  please, 
'taint  no  worse  than  has  been  done  to  me ;  but 
God  knows  I  am  an  innocent  woman." 

"Didn't  you  confess,"  said  a  magistrate  from 
the  country  seated  at  the  end  of  the  bench  : 
"  didn't  you  confess  to  Mr.  Blue,  that  you  killed 
the  child?" 

"  No !  T  did  not  do  anv  such  thins;." 

^  O 

"Why,  Mr.  Blue  swears  vou  did.  and  I  have 


MINTE'S  TRIAL.  105 

heard  (outside  of  the  court-house  to  be  sure),  that 
at  least  half  a  dozen  persons  heard  you  confess  it." 

"If  I  did  so,  I  don't  'member  it;  I  'member 
very  well,  that  I  denied  it  over  and  over  again ; 
I  was  in  so  much  pain,  that  I  can't  rightly  say 
just  what  I  might  have  said  at  the  time.  I  am 
innocent,  and  God  knows  it." 

She  seated  herself  and  then  an  old  man,  a 
magistrate,  stood  up  and  pronounced  sentence  of 
death  upon  her,  and  told  her  when  she  was  to  be 
hung.  Before  he  sat  down  he  told  her,  that  as 
the  court  were  divided  in  opinion,  they  would  all 
recommend  her  to  the  mercy  of  the  governor,  and 
he  had  hardly  a  doubt  but  that  the  governor 
would  commute  her  punishment,  to  sale  as  a  slave 
for  life  to  some  person  who  would  take  her  out  of 
the  commonwealth. 


CHAPTER    XV. 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE. 

"Mr  heart  seemed  breaking.  My  brain  was 
on  fire.  My  whole  body  seemed  stiff  as  if  it  had 
been  frozen  into  stone.  I  could  not  see  or  hear. 
One  thought  only  filled  my  mind  and  tore  my 
heart — my  child:  she  would  die — die  of  grief,  alone 
and  uncared  for — or  if  she  lived,  her  life  would  be 
one  long  lingering  agony  worse  than  death.  Her 
deformity,  her  worthlessness  to  her  master,  made 
me  sure  that  he  would  not  care  for  her  welfare. 
I  thought,  too,  of  her  great  love  for  me — every 
little  act  of  kindness  in  her  whole  life  came  up  at 
once  before  my  mind — I  saw  her  sometimes  sitting 
under  a  tree  as  far  in  my  path  as  she  dared  to 
come  to  meet  me  in  the  evening,  and  springing 
into  my  arms,  and  laughing  and  crying  by  turns 
as  she  did  so.  I  heard  her  tell  me  over  again 
how  lonely  she  had  been  all  day  without  me,  and 
how  long  the  day  seemed  between  the  sunrise  and 
the  sunset — and  I  thought  over  again  the  happy 
Sundays  that  we  had  passed  together  in  our  dark 
cabin,  where  we  talked  and  sung  and  read  the 
(IOC) 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  107 

Bible  all  day  long.  Who  now  would  care  for  her 
when  she  was  sick  ?  Who  would  bear  with  her 
fretfulness  when  she  was  tortured  with  pain,  as 
she  had  often  been  ?  She  would  be  placed  in  the 
care  of  some  woman  with  children  of  her  own,  and 
her  feebleness  and  affliction  would  make  her  a  prey 
to  all  who  chose  to  abuse  her. 

"  I  was  sold — sold  as  a  beast,  and  chained  with 
other  men ;  and  they  were  taking  me  to  a  market 
where  they  could  sell  me  again  for  more  money. 
I  had  been  sold  before.  I  had  been  whipped  and 
abused  and  half  starved,  and  slandered  and  denied 
almost  every  right  that  men  love ;  but  none  of 
these  things  seemed  hard,  compared  with  the 
greatest  of  all  sorrows,  that  of  being  separated, 
as  I  thought  forever,  from  the  only  being  on  earth 
who  loved  me.  If  I  could  have  followed  her  to 
the  grave,  I  would  have  been  less  sad  ;  for  I  would 
then  know  that  good  angels  had  her  in  their  care, 
and  that  she  was  happy  forever.  But  now,  what 
ruin  might  not  be  done  to  her  very  soul.  All  the 
lessons  I  had  taught  her  would  soon  be  forgotten 
amid  the  bad  teaching  and  example  of  the  other 
slaves.  She  would  forget  her  Bible  and  her  God  ; 
she  would  forget  even  me,  and  live  as  those  live 
with  whom  she  would  be  compelled  to  associate. 

I  looked  for  a  moment  along  the  line  of  the 
coffle.  as  it  stretched  out  like  a  great  serpent 


108  BELLE    SCOTT. 

before  me,  winding  with  the  turnings  of  the  road, 
and  moving,  now  up,  now  down,  as  it  passed  over 
the  uneven  ground,  and  wondered  if,  in  that  whole 
gang  of  slaves,  there  was  any  one  who,  like  me, 
was  separated  forever  from  an  only  child !  I 
thought  I  saw  in  the  sorrowful  faces  of  many  of 
my  fellows,  marks  of  sadness  and  suffering,  deep 
almost  as  the  grief  of  my  own  heart.  I  groaned 
aloud,  and  other  groans  re-echoed  my  own.  I 
sighed,  and  far  along  the  line,  sighs  seemed  to 
answer  mine. 

"  I  was  fastened  to  the  leading  chain  by  a  single 
manacle  on  my  right  hand.  We  had  gone  but  a 
few  miles  when  night  came  on,  I  now,  for  the  first 
time,  could  shed  tears.  I  raised  my  chained  hand 
to  my  face;  the  tears  ran  fast  over  it:  another  thrill 
of  agony  came  across  me,  and  as  I  dropped  my  hand 
to  my  side,  I  gave  a  sudden  jerk,  and  the  ball  of 
my  thumb,  wet  as  it  was,  slipped  through  the  ring 
of  the  chain.  I  cannot  tell  my  feelings.  I  had  now 
the  power  to  free  myself  again.  I  carefully  held  the 
ring,  and  the  darkness  concealed  its  position.  Very 
soon  the  two  men  who  were  riding  behind  us,  passed 
one  on  each  side,  up  to  the  middle  of  the  coffle, 
and  at  the  brow  of  a  hill  I  carefully  threw  the 
manacle  over  the  leading  chain,  and  with  one  leap 
I  was  at  the  road-side,  another  brought  me  into 
a  thicket.  I  ran  as  fast  as  T  could  till  T  had  got 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  109 

out  of  sight,  then  suddenly  turned  and  went  back 
to  the  road.  I  did  so  to  get  clear  of  the  dogs 
that  the  drivers  kept  in  a  wagon,  to  hunt  such 
of  the  coffle  as  might  escape.  I  soon  heard  them 
baying  in  the  woods,  but  after  awhile  they  seemed 
unable  to  find  my  track,  I  ran  on,  looking  be 
hind  me  almost  every  minute.  I  then  laid  my 
ear  down  on  the  ground,  and  heard  horses  coming 
un.  I  found  by  the  roadside,  two  logs  lying  close 
together,  and  laid  down  between  them.  Presently 
two  men  on  horseback  rode  past  me.  One  of 
them  said : 

" '  It 's  Jim's  fault — he's  as  tender-hearted  as  a 
chicken.  He  did  not  screw  the  manacle  tight 
enough.  I  always  do  so  at  first,  and  then  loosen 
it  afterward,  when  the  hand  begins  to  swell.  Once 
I  made  a  mistake,  and  the  man's  hand  swelled  till 
it  withered ;  but  that's  better,  you  know,  than 
to  let  a  nigger  get  away.  But  the  running  off  of 
this  fellow  won't  make  much  difference,  for  we  '11 
catch  him  before  daylight,  and  then,  you  know, 
Sam's  rule.  He  always  takes  the  runaway  to  the 
head  of  the  gang,  and  there  in  sight  of  all  the  rest, 
gives  him  a  cool  hundred  on  his  bare  back,  and 
that  strikes  a  terror  into  the  others,  and  makes 
them  afraid  to  run.  Discipline  among  niggers  is  a 
great  thing,  Mr.  Fitsimnions ;  it  keeps  all  quiet  and 
in  order,  and  without  it  it's  no  use  to  try  to  live.' 


110  BELLE    SCOTT. 

"  Mr.  Fitsiminons  said  he  knew  it  was  so,  and 
very  soon  they  passed  out  of  my  hearing. 

"  I  got  up  as  soon  as  they  were  out  of  sight,  and 
went  after  them.  When  I  got  near  my  old  master's 
house,  there  was  a  turn  in  the  road,  and  something 
told  me  there  was  danger  there.  I  got  over  into 
the  field,  and  went  around  among  some  bushes. 
I  saw  one  white  horse,  and  could  hear  the  other 
stamping  his  feet  on  the  ground.  I  then  ran  to 
my  quarters ;  the  door  was  not  barred ;  I  opened 
it  carefully,  and  found  Lucy  lying  undressed  across 
her  bed.  I  went  to  the  floor,  and  raised  up  a 
plank,  under  which  I  had  put  my  jack-knife,  some 
lucifer  matches,  and  my  Bible.  I  got  these,  took 
Lucy  in  my  arms,  and  ran  to  the  woods.  I  ran 
till  I  came  to  a  stream  of  water,  and  waded  down 
it  a  mile ;  then  I  went  on  my  journey.  As  soon 
as  I  felt  myself  far  enough  out  in  the  woods  to 
be  safe,  we  laughed,  we  cried,  we  leaped,  we  shouted 
for  joy  !  I  had  not  a  cent  of  money  in  the  world; 
no  hat  nor  shoes,  nor  house  nor  home — nothing, 
nothing  but  my  child  and  my  Bible,  and  with 
these  I  was  so  happy  that  I  could  hardly  live. 
Lucy,  too,  pressed  her  little  cheek  to  mine,  and 
tears  of  joy  fell  fast  from  her  eyes." 


CHAPTER    XVI. 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE. 

"I  WALKED  as  fast  as  I  could  until  daylight,  and 
then  found  a  shelter  and  hiding-place,  near  a 
stream  of  water.  Here  we  staid  all  day  without 
anything  to  eat.  At  night  we  again  started,  but 
I  was  so  weak  from  hunger  and  distress  of  mind, 
that  I  could  not  travel  fast.  All  that  night  we 
walked  slowly,  Lucy  complaining  that  she  was 
very  hungry :  when  daylight  came,  I  do  not 
believe  that  we  had  gone  five  miles.  We  were 
both  suffering  so  much  from  hunger,  that  I 
thought  it  best  to  go  on  in  hope  of  finding  some 
thing  to  eat.  We  were  in  a  large  wood  with  a 
great  deal  of  underbrush,  and  no  paths  appeared 
to  have  been  made  in  it.  About  an  hour  after 
sunrise,  while  I  ^Yas  looking  around,  I  saw  some 
thing  lying  by  the  side  of  an  old  tree  that  had 
fallen  down.  I  told  Lucy  to  sit  down  and  be 
perfectly  still.  She  did  so,  and  I  went  round  the 
tree  very  quietly  until  I  got  opposite  the  place 
where  the  object  lay,  then  looked  carefully  over 

and  saw  a  young  fawn  asleep.     With  a  spring  I 

(ill) 


112  BELLE   SCOTT. 

made  it  my  prisoner.  Its  cries  brought  Lucy  to 
me.  It  was  a  beautiful  creature,  and  she  was 
delighted  with  it :  when  I  told  her  that  I  intended 
to  kill  it  for  food  she  begged  me  even  with  tears 
to  spare  its  life ;  when  I  was  about  to  plunge  my 
knife  into  its  throat,  she  caught  my  hand  and 
cried  out  in  agony.  I  carried  it  in  my  arms 
until  we  came  to  a  place  well  sheltered  and  near  a 
stream,  and  then  sent  Lucy  down  for  some  water. 
Before  she  got  back  the  fawn  was  killed.  She 
stood  looking  at  its  dying  struggles,  and  crying 
over  it  until  its  life  was  gone.  I  then  dressed  it, 
made  a  fire  and  roasted  as  much  of  it  as  we  needed. 
As  Lucy  was  without  shoes,  after  a  hearty  break 
fast  I  passed  the  day  in  making  her,  from  the 
skin  of  the  fawn,  a  pair  of  moccasins  that  came 
above  her  ankles.  At  noon  and  at  night  we  again 
feasted  on  the  venison,  and  then  started  on  our 
journey,  carrying  the  remainder  of  it  with  us. 

"I  felt  very  dull,  my  head  ached,  my  limbs 
were  full  of  pain,  and  now  that  the  excitement 
under  which  I  had  been,  had  passed  off,  I  could 
scarcely  walk.  Lucy  walked  by  my  side.  We 
were  following  the  course  of  a  stream  of  water,  and 
about  midnight  I  became  unable  to  travel  further. 
We  found  a  place  where  three  or  four  trees  were 
overgrown  by  a  large  grape  vine  that  twined  all 
ii round  them  down  to  the  iiround.  I  made  a  bed 


AARON  S    NARRATIVE.  llo 

of  leaves  under  this  shelter  as  well  as  I  could. 
Here  I  laid  down.  I  told  Lucy  how  to  make  a 
fire  and  prepare  her  food.  My  mind  soon  wan 
dered  ;  sometimes  1  imagined  myself  dying  and 
leaving  my  child  alone  in  the  midst  of  this  great 
wood,  perhaps  several  miles  from  any  human 
being ;  and  if  she  returned  to  where  she  would 
meet  with  human  help,  the  very  helpers  would 
themselves  as  their  first  act,  reduce  her  to  slavery 
for  the  residue  of  her  life.  Then  I  was  startled  by 
visions  of  wild  beasts  tearing  her,  and  again  by 
seeing  her  wasted  to  a  skeleton  and  dying  of 
starvation.  In  the  midst  of  these  distressing 
thoughts  I  lost  my  consciousness.  I  do  not 
know  how  long  I  was  in  that  state.  The  first 
thino-  I  remember  was.  that  I  awoke  as  from  a 

o  ' 

deep  sleep,  and  found  Lucy  bending  over  me  and 
pouring  water  on  my  forehead  from  a  large  mussel 
shell.  She  was  wasted  to  a  skeleton.  She  told 
me  that  she  had  eaten  up  all  the  remains  of  the 
fawn,  and  had  been  a  long  time  without  food,  and 
was  almost  starved  to  death.  I  tried  to  rise  but 
was  unable  to  do  so.  Poor  little  Lucy  sat  by  my 
side ;  her  face  was  thin  and  thoughtful ;  but  even 
in  the  agony  that  was  upon  it,  I  could  see  fullness 
of  joy  at  my  returning  consciousness.  She  said 
she  was  so  glad  I  could  talk  to  her,  that  she  had 
been  talking  to  me  day  and  night,  but  that  some- 


114  BELLE   SCOTT. 

times  I  said  nothing  in  reply,  and  at  other  times 
she  could  not  understand  me ;  that  she  had  sat  at 
my  side  all  day  during  the  days,  and  lain  by  me 
all  night ;  that  rabbits  and  birds  came  near  us 
and  looked  at  us,  and  then  went  away;  that 
except  the  singing  of  the  birds,  she  had  heard  no 
other  sounds  than  her  own  voice  and  the  groans 
of  her  father  for  many  days. 

"My  senses  were  completely  restored.  I  was 
sure  that  the  disease  had  left  me;  but  still  I 
feared  that  before  I  became  strong  enough  to 
walk,  my  child  would  starve  to  death.  It  was 
about  daybreak  when  I  came  to  myself,  and  while 
I  was  wondering  what  to  do  for  food  for  Lucy,  I 
heard  a  large  frog  croaking  in  the  stream  below 
me.  I  told  her  to  take  a  stick  and  creep  care 
fully  behind  it,  and  hit  it  on  its  back :  she  did  so 
and  soon  brought  it  to  me.  I  never  before  felt  so 
thankful  for  food.  It  was  soon  prepared  by  the 
aid  of  a  fire,  and  Lucy  ate  it  with  eagerness.  I 
could  eat  but  little  of  it.  Before  night  I  became 
able  to  walk  a  little  by  the  help  of  a  stick  and 
the  hand  of  Lucy.  I  had  not  walked  a  mile 
before  I  came  across  a  horse  that  had  died  but  a 
short  time  before.  At  first  I  did  not  see  what 
benefit  it  could  be  to  us,  as  its  flesh  was  unfit 
for  food ;  but  on  thinking  a  moment  I  saw  that  I 
had  stumbled  on  a  prize.  With  rny  knife  I  cut 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  115 

off  the  long  hair  from  its  main  and  tail,  and  then 
we  found  a  hiding-place.  With  this  we  made  a 
great  many  lines;  and  from  some  bones,  by  the  aid 
of  my  knife,  I  made  fish-hooks.  They  were  very 
rough  ones,  but  answered  the  purpose  for  which 
they  were  made.  We  found  a  pole  and  some 
craw-fish  for  bait,  and  very  soon  Lucy,  seated 
under  a  large  sycamore  tree,  began  fishing  in  the 
stream.  I  sat  by  her  and  shortly,  with  my  help, 
she  caught  a  small  fish,  and  then  another  and 
another,  'till  we  had  plenty  of  food.  We  staid 
here  several  days  until  I  became  strong  enough 
to  walk  with  ease,  and  Lucy  had  recovered  from 
the  effects  of  famine.  We  then  one  evening 
started  on  our  journey. 

"  Two  nights  after  that,  we  came  to  a  country 
with  oak  arid  other  trees  growing  on  it,  in  clumps 
of  some  half  dozen  together,  and  then  with  wide 
open  spaces — some  large  and  some  small.  The 
ground  was  all  grown  over  with  long  grass  and 
flowers.  It  appeared  as  if  the  foot  of  man  had 
never  passed  over  it.  I  got  on  the  highest  rise 
of  ground,  and  looked  carefully  all  around  me,  but 
saw  no  sign  of  human  habitation.  I  laid  my  ear 
to  the  ground,  and  could  not  hear  the  barking  of 
any  dogs.  We  went  into  what  I  supposed  to  be 
the  middle  of  this  country,  and  I  there  found  on 
a  little  knoll,  the  ruins  of  an  old  house  that  had 


116  BELLE   SCOTT. 

been  burnt ;  near  it  was  a  spring,  now  filled  with 
mud  and  leaves.  In  the  remains  of  a  garden,  in 
front  of  the  house,  was  a  large  thicket  of  young 
fig-trees,  the  old  ones  appeared  to  have  been  de 
stroyed,  and  these  had  come  up  thickly  in  their 
place.  There  was,  too,  in  the  rear  of  what  had 
been  the  house,  a  large  grove  of  oaks,  and  some 
peach,  apple,  and  cherry  trees.  There  was  a  cellar 
filled  up  with  pieces  of  burnt  timber  and  stones. 
I  cleared  out  a  corner  of  this  place,  arid  arranged 
the  boards  in  such  a  manner  as  to  shelter  us  from 
the  sun ;  and  we  determined,  if  we  could  safely 
do  so,  to  make  it  our  home  for  several  days,  until 
our  health  and  strength  should  be  fully  restored. 
Very  soon  after  we  had  prepared  our  hiding-place, 
Lucy  came  to  me  with  her  face  beaming  with  joy  : 
she  said  she  had  found  something,  and  asked  me 
to  guess  what  it  was !  I  made  many  efforts  to  do 
so,  but  failed  in  them  all — when  she  told  me  it 
was  a  bucket.  This  was  indeed  a  prize.  Down 
in  the  stream  below  the  spring,  deeply  buried  in 
the  mud,  was  a  wooden  bucket ;  it  was  soon  raised 
and  cleaned,  and  the  handle,  which  was  loose,  put 
in  its  place.  This  led  us  to  look  for  other  articles 
of  value,  and  we  found  an  old  tin-cup,  a  case-knife, 
a  fork  with  the  handle  off,  and  the  prongs  of  an 
old  pitchfork.  What  treasures,  and  how  useful 
these  things  were  to  us ! 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  117 

"Large  herds  of  cattle  were  grazing  over  this 
natural  meadow.  Most  of  them  were  too  wild  to 
let  us  approach  them ;  but  one  cow  had  her  udder 
full  of  milk,  and  she  was  quiet  and  tame.  Oh! 
how  Lucy  feasted  on  the  first  bucket  of  milk  that 
I  got  from  the  cow,  and  how  rich  we  were,  now 
that  we  had  plenty  of  food,  and  the  means  of  get 
ting  more.  I  made  snares  for  rabbits,  and  caught 
a  great  many ;  cut  down  a  small  bush,  and  made 
?i  bow,  and  with  my  horse-hair  lines,  a  string  for 
it.  I  made  arrows  from  the  broken  boards  around 
me,  and  soon  was  able  to  supply  ourselves  with 
woodcock,  partridges,  and  snipe.  We  did  not 
merely  feast,  we  fattened. 

"  I  do  not  know  how  long  we  staid  here ;  I  sup 
pose  it  was  more  than  a  week.  Do  not  think  that 
I  wasted  my  time.  I  could  not  have  traveled  in 
my  weak  state.  I  was  not  strong  enough  to  carry 
Lucy,  and  she  was  not  able  to  walk  much ;  so  that 
I  still  think  I  acted  for  the  best,  in  staying  there 
until  I  became  strong  enough  to  travel. 

"  Generally,  in  the  daytime,  we  stayed  in  our 
place  in  the  old  cellar,  except  that  early  in  the 
morning  I  went  out  to  kill  birds  and  rabbits,  and 
to  milk  the  cow.  The  cow  seemed  also,  to  look 
upon  our  place  as  her  home,  and  upon  us  as  her 
friends ;  for  regularly  night  and  morning  she  came 
up  to  be  milked.  Our  place,  too.  was  on  ground 
10 


118  BELLE    SCOTT. 

that  rose  so  high  above  the  country  around  us, 
that  I  could  see  a  great  way  in  every  direction, 
if  a  man,  especially  on  horseback,  should  approach 
us.  Our  time  during  the  day  was  employed  in 
preparing  our  food,  and  after  that  in  reading  the 
Bible.  I  here  had,  for  the  first  time,  an  oppor 
tunity  to  read  it  day  after  day  to  my  dear  child : 
she  sat  by  me  and  listened,  and  asked  questions 
as  I  read,  and  I  do  hope  that  she  was  greatly 
benefited  by  what  she  heard.  She  was  less  fretful, 
her  countenance  became  calmer,  and  her  conduct 
more  quiet.  Much  as  she  had  always  loved  me, 
she  now  seemed  to  love  me  with  more  tenderness 
and  force.  Her  eyes  often  filled  with  tears  as  I 
read  to  her. 

"  Once  I  read :  '  If  meat  make  my  brother  to 
offend,  I  will  eat  no  meat  while  the  world  standeth,' 
and  explained  to  her  that  it  meant  that  the  eating 
of  meat  was  entirely  lawful,  but  that  if  by  doing 
a  lawful  act,  it  caused  others  who  were  of  weak 
minds,  to  lose  their  love  for  Christianity,  that  then 
it  would  be  wrong  even  to  eat  meat.  She  looked 
me  in  the  face,  and  said : 

" '  Father,  was  it  not  wrong  for  master  to  sell  you; 
he  sold  your  flesh,  was  not  that  as  bad  as  to  cat 
meat  ?  It  offended  me,  it  offended  you,  and  it  may 
be  that  it  will  offend  others.  Then  how  can  ho 
be  a  good  man  and  do  so  ?  " 


CHAPTER    XVII. 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE. 

"  IT  may  seem  strange,  but  it  is  true,  that  I 
never  before  had  become  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  my  own  child.  I  had  nursed  her  when  she 
was  a  baby,  but  I  had  to  work  so  hard,  that  at 
night  I  was  too  tired  to  talk  much  with  her.  Now 
I  had,  what  I  had  very  long  wished  for,  full  time 
to  sit  all  clay  by  her  side,  to  talk  with  her,  to  read 
my  Bible  to  her,  and  to  enjoy  fully  her  society. 
I  never  passed  so  happy  a  time  in  my  life.  The 
days  flew  by  us  swiftly ;  our  various  employments 
seemed  not  to  leave  us  leisure  enough  for  all  of 
them.  Lucy's  love  for  me  grew  daily,  as  mine 
did  for  her.  I  had  before  that,  supposed  that  I 
loved  her  so  strongly,  that  I  could  love  her  no 
more ;  but  my  power  of  loving  seemed  to  be  in 
creased.  She  often  asked  me  if  we  were  now  free. 
We  talked  over  our  plans  of  living  when  we  should 
get  to  Canada,  a  place  which,  to  Lucy,  seemed 
next  to  heaven.  I  was  to  go  out  in  the  fields  and 
work — and  she  was  to  keep  house,  milk  the  cow 
and  feed  the  chickens.  Such  plans  of  happiness 

(119) 


120  BELLE    SCOTT. 

came  up  before  us,  that  we  almost  forgot  for  the 
time,  our  present  distress  in  looking  forward  to 
the  bright  future. 

"  While  we  staid  at  the  ruins  of  the  old  house 
the  weather  was  clear  and  mild,  but  a  change 
seemed  to  be  coming  on,  and  I  thought  we  had 
better  leave  it  as  the  cellar  might  fill  with  water. 
One  evening  about  sunset,  we  milked  our  cow ; 
Lucy  patted  her  on  the  head,  and  bade  her  good- 
by.  We  took  with  us  our  bucket,  cup,  and  pitch 
fork,  to  which  I  had  put  a  handle,  and  started,  not 
without  sorrow,  from  our  home :  although  I  was 
nearly  recovered,  yet  I  found  it  would  be  too 
great  a  burden  to  carry  Lucy.  She  had  to  walk 
nearly  all  the  way.  This  she  did  cheerfully,  as 
her  feet  were  well  protected  by  her  moccasins. 
We  got  along  slowly,  but  well.  The  weather  was 
cloudy,  so  that  I  could  not  see  the  North  star, 
and  from  this  point  I  must  have  made  a  mistake 
in  my  starting,  which  took  me  too  far  to  the  west, 
and  ended  in  my  getting  here. 

"  We  were  now  traveling  through  a  country 
which  was  pretty  well  inhabited,  so  that  I  had  to 
be  very  careful,  for  fear  of  being  seen.  One 
evening,  just  after  we  had  started  from  our  hiding- 
place,  we  were  greatly  scared  at  the  sound  of 
something  rushing  toward  us  through  the  bushes. 
Our  hearts  beat  wildlv ;  detection  and  a  life  of 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  121 

hopeless  slavery  seemed  to  be  just  before  us ;  but 
when  it  came  in  sight — Oh !  how  glad  we  were  to 
see  only  a  wolf — not  a  man.  It  looked  at  us,  and 
then  ran  away. 

"  We  went  on  night  after  night,  for  I  do  not 
know  how  long — often  suffering  from  hunger, 
sometimes,  though  rarely,  from  thirst,  weary  and 
sad,  until  early  one  morning  we  were  startled  by 
the  distant  cry  of  a  pack  of  hounds :  on  listening, 
I  had  reason  to  fear  they  were  on  our  trail.  I 
snatched  Lucy  in  my  arms,  and  fled  with  terror, 
running  even  in  broad  daylight  close  to  the  fields. 
At  last  I  came  to  a  path,  on  which  I  saw  the 
freshly-made  tracks  of  several  men ;  it  led  in  the 
same  direction  I  was  traveling,  and  I  followed  it, 
heedless  almost  of  all  danger,  except  from  the 
pursuing  hounds,  until  I  came  to  another  that 
turned  off  from  it,  and  seemed  to  lead  out  into 
the  woods.  I  pursued  that  until  our  traces  were 
lost.  Soon  afterward  I  came  to  a  swamp,  over 
grown  with  large  trees,  and  covered  with  the  trunks 
of  those  which  had  fallen.  In  it  was  a  little  space 
of  dry  ground,  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  almost 
stagnant  water ;  there,  under  a  large  tree,  I  made 
our  stopping-place.  I  discovered  that  a  pair  of 
bald  eagles  had  their  nest,  and  young  ones,  in  the 
top  of  a  pine  tree ;  one  of  the  eagles,  by  accident, 
let  a  young  rabbit,  not  yet  dead,  fall  from  the 


122  BELLE   SCOTT. 

nest;  we  were  hungry  and  I  grasped  the  prizes 
The   eagle  swept  over  and  near  us,  with  ruffled 
feathers,  and  screamed  and  flew  away  to  her  nest. 
They  were  free  !  they  could  fly  and  soar,  and  rear 
and  feed  their  young,  while  I  was  compelled  to 
hide  from  the  face  of  my  fellow-men.     Several 
alligators  lay  on  the  logs  by  the  edge  of  the  water, 
basking  themselves  in  the  warm  sunshine.     We 
caught  some  fish,  and    staid  here  several  days. 
I  could,  almost  every  morning,  hear  the  hounds 
at  a  distance.     I  supposed  from  this,  that  other 
runaways  were  in  the  neighborhood,  and  that  they 
were  in  search  of  them.     At  last  one  night,  I 
heard  a  low  whistle,  which  was  repeated  in  a  few 
minutes ;  then  a  pause  followed,  and  it  was  an 
swered  in  another  direction.     This  was  the  first 
sound  I  had  heard  from  human  lips,  except  Lucy's 
and  my  own,  for  many  weeks :  but  as  I  did  not 
know  whence  it  came,  I  hid  myself,  and  put  out 
my  fire.     The  smoke  of  it  had  been  seen,  for  two 
persons  were  evidently  coming  cautiously  toward 
us,     I  laid  Lucy  down  on  the  ground,  and  myself 
close  by  her  side,  and  listened ;  my  limbs  trembled, 
and  I  feared  that  the  beating  of  Lucy's  little  heart 
would    itself  betray  us.     After   awhile,  the  two 
persons  seemed  to  be  coming  nearer  to  each  other, 
and  then  I  heard  them  speaking  in  a  low  tone. 
From  their  speech,  I  supposed  them  to  be  colored 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  123 

people,  but  I  was  not  sure  whether  it  might  not 
be  white  persons  speaking  like  them,  to  deceive 
me.  It  was  a  bright  starlight  night,  and  I  saw 
one  of  them  get  up  on  a  large  log,  and  look  care 
fully  around  him.  He  was  a  very  short,  heavy-set 
man,  without  hat  or  shoes ;  his  clothes  all  in 
tatters,  except  a  huge  skin  that  covered  his 
shoulders.  Very  soon  the  other  approached  him, 
who  appeared  to  be  a  mulatto  boy  about  seventeen 
or  eighteen  years  of  age.  They  talked  together 
a  short  time,  and  the  boy  then  came  cautiously 
toward  us,  and  in  a  low,  but  clear  voice,  said : 
1  Will.'  I  made  no  answer.  He  called  again,  and 
added,  ;  We  are  safe  now,  why  don't  you  answer  ? ' 
He  came  still  nearer,  and  finding  that  I  could  not 
remain  concealed,  I  stood  up  and  asked  him  who 
he  was  ?  he  replied,  '  Lewis,'  and  seemed  to  be 
greatly  frightened,  when  he  found  that  he  did  not 
know  me, 

"  The  other  man  now  came  up ;  their  tale  was 
soon  told.  A  party  of  five,  had  left  Mississippi 
and  were  running  away.  They  had  been  out  a 
month,  and  during  the  rains  had  lost  their  course. 
They  had  suffered  so  much  from  hunger  that  one 
of  them  went  crazy,  and  his  bowlings  and  other  in 
discretions  had  betrayed  them.  A  pack  of  hounds 
had  been  put  upon  their  trail,  and  the  hunters  had 


124  BELLE    SCOTT. 

come  upon  them ;  at  the  first  shot  one  had  been 
killed,  and  another  so  badly  wounded,  that  he 
died  a  few  days  afterward.  They  had  fled  until 
they  came  to  a  large  swamp,  and  taken  shelter  on 
dry  ground,  near  to  what  they  supposed  to  be  the 
middle  of  it.  Their  wounded  companion  died  in 
great  agony,  and  they  had  buried  him.  Their 
place  was  so  surrounded  by  water,  and  so  far  in 
the  swamp,  that  the  dogs  could  not  trail  them ; 
nor  could  the  hunters  get  there  on  horseback. 
They  determined  to  stay  till  the  pursuit  should 
cease,  and  then  to  go  on.  At  night  they  went 
out  in  search  of  food  ;  and  in  one  of  these  excur 
sions  they  saw  my  fire,  and  supposed  that  one 
of  their  companions  who  had  separated  from  them 
when  they  were  closely  pursued,  had  kindled  it. 

"We  left  the  place  where  I  was,  in  the  edge  of 
the  swamp,  and  started  to  go  to  theirs.  They  led 
the  way,  and  after  a  very  long,  weary  walk  over 
fallen  logs,  sometimes  sinking  deep  in  the  mire,  at 
other  times  wading  through  stagnant  water,  we 
came  to  their  hiding-place.  They  had  built  a  little 
hut  and  filled  it  with  leaves.  They  had  a  wild 
hog,  an  opossum,  and  an  alligator  all  just  killed, 
and  we  soon  had  an  abundant  meal. 

"  New  and  friendly  faces  and  voices,  gave  Lucy 
great  joy  ;  she  listened  eagerly  to  every  word  they 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  125 

said,  and  looked  by  the  light  of  the  fire,  steadily 
in  the  face  of  each  speaker,  as  if  she  were  en 
chanted.  They  seemed  pleased  with  her,  too. 
They  had  not  seen  the  face  of  a  child  for  several 
weeks,  and  Lucy  was  soon  a  great  favorite  with 
them." 


1 1 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


MINTE. 


IN  June  in  the  year  1834,  a  traveler  in  the 
western  part  of  Virginia,  was  slowly  descending 
a  steep  hill.  At  a  turn  in  the  road  he  stopped 
almost  involuntarily  to  gaze  upon  the  beauti 
ful  landscape  before  him.  At  the  bottom  of  the 
hill  ran  a  deep,  wide  creek,  the  banks  of  which 
were  shaded  on  both  sides  by  great  sycamore 
trees  and  wild  rose-bushes  and  other  shrubs  and 
flowers  in  full  bloom;  which  were  mirrored  in 
the  slowly-moving  green  water  below  them.  A 
flock  of  parroquets  were  wheeling  in  the  air,  and 
showing  at  each  turn  their  brilliant  plumage  of 
green  and  gold. 

On  the  western  side  of  the  creek  was  a  fertile 
valley  half  a  mile  in  width,  which  extended 
north  and  south  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 
Behind  the  valley  rose  a  long  line  of  hills,  covered 
to  their  tops  with  trees,  and  beyond  this  range 
of  hills  towered  majestically  to  the  clouds,  the 
Alleghany  mountains,  all  green  with  the  fresh 
verdure  of  spring.  As  the  south  wind  blew 

(126) 


MINTE.  127 

gently  over  the  forest,  the  waving  trees  showed 
unbroken  terraces  of  moving  living  green,  that 
rose  pile  on  pile,  and  height  upon  height,  until 
the  vision  was  closed  by  the  clouds  that  rested 
on  the  tops  of  the  mountains.  Wreaths  of  white 
mist  were  rising  at  different  points  of  the  land 
scape,  which  gently  curled  and  waved,  as  like 
spirits  they  rose  and  melted  in  the  air. 

All  along  the  valley  were  farm  houses,  and 
orchards  and  meadows  of  deep  green,  and  fields 
of  clover  in  full  bloom.  Large  fields  of  ripe  wheat 
waved  like  lakes  of  melted  gold,  as  the  wind  blew 
gently  over  them ;  and  there  were  great  fields 
of  corn,  green  as  emerald,  just  shooting  into  tassel 
with  red  and  yellow  silk.  The  first  pencilings 
of  the  morning  sun  rising  over  the  North  moun 
tain,  shed  their  mellow  luster  over  the  scene,  and 
rose  in  long  waves  of  golden  light  upon  the 
dark  green  forests  and  sides  of  the  hills  and 
mountains. 

A  road  rough  with  loose  stones  and  huge  rocks, 
lay  on  the  west  bank  of  the  creek,  and  followed 
its  windings. 

At  a  turn  in  this  road  which  brought  those  who 
passed  along  it  into  view  of  the  traveler,  he  saw 
first  a  buggy  driven  by  a  young  man  neatly 
dressed,  and  behind  that  a  row  of  seven  or  eight 
Wilsons,  each  drawn  by  two  horses,  and  filled  with 

O  /  %/  7 


128  BELLE    SCOTT. 

negro  and  mulatto  women  and  children.  Behind 
these  wagons  followed  a  coffle  of  eighty  slaves. 
They  were  in  chains.  The  iron  ring  around  the 
right  wrist  of  one,  was  attached  by  a  chain  to  a 
like  ring  on  the  left  wrist  of  another,  and  in  the 
middle  of  these  chains,  were  rings  that  attached 
the  whole  party  to  a  leading  chain  that  extended 
along  the  whole  line. 

They  moved  slowly  along  the  uneven,  winding 
road,  and  at  a  distance  looked  like  some  great 
monster  undulating  and  twining  with  the  ine 
qualities  of  the  ground  over  which  it  passed. 

Upon  riding  nearer,  the  traveler  saw  an  old 
man  of  sixty  years,  chained  to  a  bright  mulatto 
boy  of  sixteen.  The  old  man's  face  was  thought 
ful,  and  full  of  care ;  the  boy  walked  bravely  on, 
but  in  spite  of  his  efforts  to  restrain  them,  tears 
would  start  to  his  eyes  and  steal  down  his  cheeks. 
Some  of  the  men  were  talking  composedly,  but 
all  were  serious ;  the  men  were  variously  dressed, 
some  of  them  in  the  coarse  clothing  of  field 
laborers,  others  in  well  fitting  garments  of  good 
quality. 

Behind  the  coffle  were  five  one  horse  carriages, 
each  driven  by  a  well  dressed  white  man,  with  a 
colored  woman  seated  at  his  side. 

In  the  last  of  these  carriages  sat  a  woman  so 
nearly  white,  that,  but  for  her  position,  it  would 


MINTE.  129 

have  been  difficult  to  discover  the  traces  of  inter 
mixture  with  the  African  race.  Her  soft  black 
hair  hung  uncared  for,  shading  her  large  lustrous 
black  eyes ;  her  features  were  as  finely  and 
delicately  cut  as  a  statue  by  the  hands  of  an 
accomplished  artist.  She  moved  not,  spoke  not, 
looked  not  either  to  the  right  or  left,  and  seemed 
to  be  wholly  unconscious  of  objects  around  her ; 
on  her  face  sat,  not  sorrow  nor  traces  of  mental 
suffering,,  nor  grief,  nor  anguish,  nor  misery — but 
despair. 

If  you  have  stood  by  the  gallows  when  the 
doomed  man  took  his  last  look  at  the  scene  before 
him,  and  at  the  sunshine :  if  you  have  stood  by 
the  side  of  the  gay  young  man,  when  his  warm 
blood  was  gushing  from  a  wound  inflicted  by  the 
assassin  in  the  street,  and  he  had  just  been  in 
formed  that  he  had  but  a  minute  to  live  ;  if  you 
have  been  at  the  deathbed  of  the  hardened  sinner, 
whose  eye  is  now  too  dim  to  see  the  brazen  serpent 
that  Moses  placed  on  a  pole  for  the  healing  of 
Israel,  and  heard  him  whisper  with  his  last  breath, 
"  It  is  too  late — I  am  lost ; "  if  you  have  seen  the 
widow,  standing  by  the  grave  of  her  only  son,  as 
the  first  clods  fell  upon  his  coffin ;  if  you  have 
seen  the  young  mother  frantic,  as  her  babe  has 
just  fallen,  quickly  as  the  flower  of  the  meadow 
before  the  scythe  of  the  mower— then  you  may 


130  BELLE   SCOTT. 

imagine  the  despair  that  spread  its  raven  wings 
over  the  face  of  that  poor  woman. 

The  procession  halted.  A  man  dressed  in  gray 
clothing,  burly  and  big,  mounted  on  a  fat  and 
clumsy  horse,  rode  up,  and  inquired  for  the  owners 
or  agent  of  the  owners  of  the  coffle  of  '  servants.' 
He  was  told  that  the  owners  were  a  few  miles  in 
the  rear,  but  that  the  agent  was  the  young  man 
who  rode  in  front.  He  pricked  his  steel  into  the 
fat  side  of  his  horse,  trotted  to  the  young  man, 
and  stated  that  he  wished  to  buy  a  negro  woman. 
He  was  told  that  the  woman  in  the  rear  was  for 
sale,  and  would  be  sold  at  a  low  price  ;  but  after 
a  close  inspection  he  refused  to  purchase  her. 
Another  woman  was  then  shown  to  him.  He  ex 
amined  her  carefully,  and  the  purchase  was  made. 

"  But,"  said  the  agent,  "  she  has  a  little  child, 
a  girl  about  four  years  old ;  you  must  buy  that, 
too." 

The  woman,  who  had  been  sullen  and  silent,  now 
became  furious ;  she  declared  that  her  child  was 
free,  and  that  the  agent  had  no  right  to  sell  it. 
Two  of  the  white  men  had,  by  this  time,  joined 
the  group,  and  she  appealed  to  them  as  witnesses 
that  the  child  was  free.  After  some  delay  they 
admitted  her  statement,  and  the  child  was  handed 
over  to  the  purchaser  of  Minte,  her  mother.  The 
price  was  paid,  and  the  company  were  starting, 


MINTE.  131 

when  a  white  boy  ran  up  and  said,  addressing 
himself  to  the  agent. 

"  Mr.  Tibbs  wants  you  to  come  right  quick  to 
him ;  something 's  the  matter  with  the  gal  he  has 
to  take  care  of." 

The  agent  went  quickly  to  the  rear,  and  there, 
seated  upright  in  the  buggy,  by  the  side  of  Tibbs, 
sat  Patsy,  the  woman  already  described.  A 
single  drop  of  blood  rested  just  below  one  of  the 
corners  of  her  mouth ;  her  face  was  sad,  even  in 
death,  for  she  was  dead :  her  heart  had  broken. 

Poor  Patsy !  In  her  position  as  housemaid, 
in  a  family  in  Washington  city,  she  had  observed 
the  deportment  of  cultivated  persons,  and  her  own 
manners  were  as  quiet  and  refined  as  the  best 
culture  could  make  them,  The  same  dreams  of 
love  and  happiness  passed  through  her  girlish 
imagination,  and  warmed  her  heart,  that  cheer  and 
soften  the  hearts  of  all  her  sex.  And  then  she 
married — married  the  lover  of  her  youth  and  of 
her  choice — and  loved  him  more  intensely  than 
she  loved  her  own  life.  He  was  a  free  man,  a 
mechanic,  industrious  and  sober,  and  they  both 
hoped  that,  by  his  industry,  she  would  soon 
become  free.  Children  clustered  around  their 
humble  hearth,  and  the  footsteps  of  their  little 
feet  as  they  followed  her,  made  music  to  her  heart. 


132  BELLE   SCOTT. 

They  threw  their  arms  around  her  neck,  and  she 
half  forgot  in  their  caresses  that  she  was  a  slave. 
Her  little  boy,  with  his  rich  clusters  of  hair  shading 
his  bronzed  forehead,  was  dearer  to  her,  because 
he  bore  the  manly  image  of  his  father.  Her  little 
prattling  girl,  wiped  with  her  soft  hands,  the  tears 
from  her  face,  and  soothed  her  with  kind  and  com 
forting  words  when  she  wept  from  the  fear  of 
separation.  The  smiles  of  her  infant  were  dear, 
as  such  smiles  always  are,  to  the  mother's  heart. 
And  then  camo  0!)omy  forebodings  of  her  sale  to 
the  traders — not  the  most  abject  submission  that 
a  slave  can  offer,  trembling  as  she  does  so,  to  a 
cold  and  heartless  mistress,  could  remove  from 
the  brow  of  that  mistress,  the  frown  that  gathered 
there  when  Patsy  approached.  And  then  her 
husband  meekly  offered  to  purchase  her ;  but  the 
whole  purchase-money  was  demanded  in  one  pay 
ment,  and  in  cash  ;  and  he  had  no  power  to  make 
it.  He  offered  to  labor  for  years  on  years,  till  he 
should  become  an  old  man;  but  that  offer  was 
rejected.  Then  followed  nervous  apprehensions 
of  sale ;  so  that  Patsy  started  and  trembled  at  the 
sound  of  every  approaching  footstep.  And  then 
came  the  hour  so  long  delayed,  so  greatly  dreaded, 
when  the  trader  and  his  gang  sprang  upon  her  in 
her  little  home,  and  tore  her  from  the  arms  of  her 


MINTE.  133 

children ;  the  last  look — the  last  embrace  of  her 
little  Harry,  and  her  girl,  and  her  babe.  Can  you 
wonder  that  she  died  broken-hearted,  far  away 
from  all  she  loved — with  no  kind  hand  to  soothe 
the  anguish  of  her  dying  hour,  and  that  a  drop 
of  blood  rested  upon  her  face ! 


CHAPTER    XIX. 


THE    DROP    OF    BLOOD. 


THE  traveler  went  on  his  journey,  but  that  drop 
of  blood  on  the  pale  face  of  that  poor  slave,  as  she 
sat  cold  in  death,  made  a  deep  impression  upon 
him.  Perhaps  the  optic  nerve  was  diseased.  In 
after  years,  he  saw  it  in  places  where  its  presence 
was  least  looked  for.  He  saw  it  on  bales  of  cotton, 
and  hogsheads  of  sugar;  on  newspapers — even  reli 
gious  papers  were  spotted  with  it ;  on  the  pages 
of  the  novelist  and  the  poet ;  on  books  of  science 
and  of  ethics ;  on  records  of  courts  he  saw  it  spread, 
until  they  were,  in  places,  covered  with  crimson. 
He  saw  it  on  the  ballot  and  in  the  right  hand  of 
the  voter,  till  the  palm  of  that  right  hand  was  red 
with  blood. 

He  saw  it  beneath  the  blaze  of  gas-lights,  where 
long  rows  of  silver  and  cut-glass  ornamented  the 
table,  and  beautiful  women  and  brave  and  learned 
men  sat  joyously  at  the  feast ;  and  there,  in  a 
moment  of  revery,  that  drop  of  blood  oozed  out 
upon  each  plate,  and  spotted  each  glass,  until  his 
soul  sickened  at  the  sight. 
(134-) 


THE   DROP   OF   BLOOD.  135 

A  beautiful  young  bride,  decked  in  white  robes, 
with  orange-flowers  upon  her  head  and  surrounded 
by  groups  of  laughing  girls,  was  arranging  her 
hair  before  she  went  down  to  her  marriage,  cast  a 
glance  at  the  diamond  ring  which  the  bridegroom 
had  just  placed  upon  her  finger,  and  turned  Avhite 
as  Italian  marble,  and  shuddered  in  every  limb. 
The  traveler  at  her  side  saw  in  that  diamond  the 
drop  of  blood,  fresh  and  crimson.  Was  the  vision 
of  the  bride  made  unnaturally  acute  by  her 
excitement,  and  did  she  see  it  too  ?  In  a  moment 
it  was  gone — the  diamond  shone  in  its  bright 
splendor;  the  bride  became  composed,  and  in  a 
few  moments  was — wife. 

A  young  minister  charmed  by  the  fervor  of  his 
eloquence  and  his  piety  all  who  heard  him — the 
traveler  sat  in  his  pew  and  saw  that  drop  of  blood 
spread  itself  over  his  manuscript,  as  it  lay  upon 
the  Bible ;  till  it  covered  every  page. 

Pie  saw  Christians  meet  together,  to  commemo 
rate  the  love  of  Him  who  died  for  them ;  and 
that  drop  of  blood  floated  like  oil  upon  the  wine, 
and  spotted  all  the  bread,  as  those  Christians 
pressed  them  to  their  lips  and  prayed  to  be  for 
given. 

But  he  did  not  see  it  on  the  works  of  nature. 
The  deep  blue  sky  was  stainless,  as  when  it  bent 


136  BELLE   SCOTT. 

over  Eden  before  the  sin  of  man.  The  white 
lily  bloomed  radiant  and  glistening  in  its  unsul 
lied  purity.  The  rose,  seated  in  moss  and  dripping 
with  dew,  was  immaculate  in  her  queenly  beauty, 
and  the  plumage  of  the  dove,  was  all  unstained. 

He  opened  the  Book  of  God — and  its  every 
page  and  line  were  "  pure  as  the  spirit  that  made 
it."  There  was  no  spot  there — Oh  no !  all  that 
his  eye  rested  upon  in  it,  was  free  from  every 
stain  and  trace  of  blood. 

He  consulted  the  learned  Doctor  Stebbins,  who 
told  him  that  the  optic  nerve  was  diseased,  and 
that  the  diagnosis  indicated  amaurosis,  and  made 
a  long  prescription — which  did  the  traveler  no 
good. 

He  consulted  his  beloved  pastor,  the  venerable 
Doctor  of  Divinity — the  Rev.  Thomas  Slowsee, 
who  told  him  that  his  imagination  was  diseased, 
and  tenderly  and  affectionately  talked  in  mild 
and  gentle  tones  and  terms  of  fanaticism,  and  the 
danger  of  losing  one's  influence,  and  of  organic 
law,  and  of  the  difference  between  religious  and 
political  questions,  and  the  folly  of  meddling  with 
strife  that  belongeth  not  to  the  meddler ;  but  as 
the  good  man  talked,  he  looked  surprised;  for  he 
too  saw  the  same  spots  of  blood  almost  every 
where — even  upon  holy  things — and  he  too  shared 


THE   DROP   OF   BLOOD.  137 

in  the  fanaticism  that  at  first  he  had  thought 
lessly  condemned ;  for  the  disease  proved  to  be 
contagious — and  had,  like  other  contagions,  its 
own  peculiar  laws.  Those  who  would,  could  see 
the  spots  as  the  traveler  had  seen  them ;  those 
who  would  not,  were  blinded. 


CHAPTER    XX. 


LITTLE    BEN. 


"  WE  walked  nearly  all  night,  part  of  the  time 
we  had  to  wade  through  water  quite  deep,  until 
we  came  to  the  place  where  my  new  friends  had 
their  hiding-place.  About  twenty  acres  of  ground 
without  trees  on  it,  rose  above  the  level  of  the 
swamp;  on  it  were  two  gentle  swells  of  land. 

"  The  hut  of  the  party  that  I  went  with,  was  on 
one  of  them;  and  on  the  other  was  the  hut  of 
Little  Ben.  It  was  in  the  shape  of  a  haycock, 
and  made  of  the  bark  of  trees  that  reached  from 
the  ground  up  to  a  peak  at  the  top.  A  small 
hole,  large  enough  to  be  entered  by  a  man  stoop 
ing  as  low  as  he  could,  was  the  only  door.  There 
was  no  window,  nor  any  holes  for  light.  Little 
Ben  had  caught  a  young  wolf  by  the  right  fore 
foot  in  a  steel  trap,  which  had  broken  the  leg  at 
the  first  joint,  so  that  the  foot  was  twisted  in 
wardly,  and  did  not  reach  the  ground.  He  had 
made  the  animal  as  tame  as  a  dog ;  and  it  was 
his  constant  companion.  Little  Ben  generally 
dressed  himself  in  skins ;  but  on  great  days,  he 

(138) 


LITTLE   BEN.  139 

wore  an  old  suit  of  regimentals  which  he  had 
brought  with  him,  and  carefully  kept.  At  the 
top  of  his  hut  was  a  long  pole,  on  which  was  a 
flag  made  of  cotton  cloth,  with  the  stars  and 
stripes  marked  on  it  with  charcoal  and  pokebeny 
juice.  He  had  round  his  neck  an  iron  collar, 
with  two  prongs  that  passed  by  his  ears  and  went 
up  several  inches  higher  than  his  head.  This 
collar  had  been  so  well  case-hardened,  that  it  could 
not  be  filed  off.  He  was  a  short,  heavy-set  man, 
with  a  large  head  and  muscular  arms,  arid  seemed 
to  be  very  strong.  His  eyes  were  red  and  sunk 
deeply  in  his  head,  and  over  them  were  large, 
heavy  eyebrows.  He  wras  between  fifty  and 
sixty  years  old,  but  his  hair  was  jet-black  and 
bushy. 

"The  next  night  after  I  got  there,  my  new 
friends  told  me  that  Little  Ben  was  in  one  of  his 
ways,  and  would  sing  his  'Star-spangled  Banner' 
song :  that  he  always  did  so  when  the  moon  was 
fall. 

"Near  his  hut  was  the  trunk  of  a  large  sycamore 
tree  that  had  fallen  down ;  on  which  Ben  had 
made  a  place  to  stand  when  he  sung. 

"About  ten  o'clock  he  went  out  with  his  wolf, 
who  seemed  to  understand  what  he  was  about,  got 
on  the  fallen  tree  and  began  to  sing.  At  the  end 
of  each  verse  he  uttered  a  low,  sad  howl,  in  which 


140  BELLE   SCOTT. 

the  wolf  joined,  and  then  after  a  moment  went  on 
to  the  next  verse,  and  the  two  howled  together 
until  the  song  was  ended.  Then  he  and  the  wolf 
howled  for  several  minutes,  got  down  from  tho 
tree,  and  the  two  went  to  his  hut.  I  cannot  tell 
exactly  what  he  sung,  but  no  one  ever  could  sleep 
while  Little  Ben  and  his  wolf  were  singing  and 
howling  his  ' Star-spangled  Banner'  song.  It 
seemed  to  be  something  like  this : 


Here's  Little  Ben — all  alone  in  the  wide  world- 
He  's  got  no  wife,  now  ; 

He  got  no  children  now  ; 

Never  had  any  house, 

Never  had  any  land, 

Never  had  himself — 

Master  own  me  all. 

The  Star-spangled  Banner,  Oh  !  long  may  it  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  of  the  brave. 

And  then  followed  a  series  of  howls. 

Had  a  wife  once, 

She  love  him  dearly  ; 

Lived  great  while  together  ; 

On  ole  master's  place  ; 

She  sold  now — 'way  up  Red  river — 

Took  her  'way  from  Little  Ben — 

Never  see  her  more, 

Never  hear  from  her  again. 

The  Star-spangled  Banner,  Oh !  say,  does  it  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  of  the  brave  ? 


LITTLE   BEN.  141 

Then  he  sold  Rachel, 

For  a  thousand  dollars, 

While  I  was  out  at  work  ; 

LeP  her  in  the  morning, 

Came  home  for  dinner, 

Rachel  gone  forever  ! 

The  Star-spangled  Banner,  Oh !  say,  does  it  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  of  the  brave  ? 

Then  he  sell  Sally, 

Down  to  New  Orleans  ; 

Sell  her  to  a  Frenchman — 

I  seen  her  once  there  ; 

She  ride  in  her  carriage, 

Dressed  up  in  silk  and  satin  ; — 

Good  to  her  ole  father, 

And  she  try  to  buy  him, 

But  master  wouldn  't  sell  me  ! 
Oh  !  say,  does  that  Star-spangled  Banner  still  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  of  the  brave  ? 

Then  Tom  he  ran  'way, 

Off  in  the  swamp  ground  ; 

And  the  hounds  they  caught  him, 

And  tear  him  till  he  dead  ! 

Oh  !  say,  does  that  Star-spangled  Banner  yet  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  this  home  of  the  brave  ? 


Then  Missis  took  Milly ; 

She  whipped  her  and  whipped  her, 

And  wash  her  back  with  red-pepper, 

To  keep  the  flies  off  it — 

And  she  whipped  her  again  ; 

While  her  back  was  all  sore — 

And  Milly  she  died, 


142  BELLE   SCOTT. 

And  dey  put  her  in  de  ground 

And  say  she  hab  fever  ! 

Oh !  say,  does  the  Star-spangled  Banner  still  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  of  the  brave  ? 


Massa  ride  fine  horse — 

Missis  ride  in  de  carriage  ; 

Nice  heaven  here  for  'em — 

Big  heaven  in  de  next  world  ! 
That  Star-spangled  Banner,  Oh  !  when  will  it  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  homo  of  the  brave  ? 

"  Sometimes,  when  the  moon  was  full,  he  dressed 
himself  in  his  old  suit  of  regimentals,  and  sung 
and  howled,  accompanied  by  his  wolf,  all  night. 
At  sunrise  they  went  into  the  hut  and  slept  all 
day. 

"  He  was  harmless,  silent  and  gloomy ;  yet  with 
all  his  gloom,  he  was  kind  to  all  who  were  on  his 
island,  for  he  had  made  the  place  his  own,  and 
treated  all  who  came  there  as  his  guests. 

"He  had  corn  and  vegetables  planted  on  the 
island,  and  caught  birds  and  game  for  food.  In 
some  places  there  were  ponds  of  water  in  the 
swamp,  in  which  he  caught  fish.  He  always  gave 
his  guests  food  when  he  had  it ;  and  when  his 
stock  of  meat  and  fish  was  exhausted  he  got  more. 

"  We  stayed  here  three  days,  one  of  which  was 
Sunday.  I  was  sitting  on  a  log  reading  the  Bible 
to  my  child,  when  little  Ben  saw  me  from  his  hut 


LITTLE    BEN.  143 

and  came  to  us.  He  sat  down  and  listened  a 
long  time,  and  I  read  on  because  it  seemed  to 
please  him.  1  read  the  passage  about  John  the 
Baptist.  He  stopped  me  and  said,  'Read  that 
again,'  I  did  so.  He  put  his  hands  to  his  head 
and  bent  it  down,  almost  to  his  knees,  and  sat  in 
silence.  I  stopped  reading  as  soon  as  I  saw  he 
was  not  listening.  After  four  or  five  minutes  he 
raised  his  head  and  said,  (I  see  it  now.' 

"'See  what?' 

" '  I  see  it  now ;  it's  just  this ;  the  good  Lord 
loved  John  Baptist.  He  was  a  good  man ;  that 
king  a  bad  man.  But  the  Lord  let  him  cut  oft* 
John  Baptist's  head.  What  he  let  him  for  ?  just 
this :  it  didn't  make  any  matter  whether  he  live 
great  while  or  little  while  in  this  world ;  so  he  let 
him  cut  off  his  head,  and  kill  him  in  jail.  The 
king  live  great  while — forgot  all  'bout  John  de 
Baptist — think  he  do  no  harm ;  a  great  man  and 
live  in  a  great  house,  and  then  he  die  too.  All 
over  with  him  then — all  his  king  gone  clean  away. 
Only  like  another  man  then,  and  he  have  to  an 
swer  for  all  he  done  to  John  de  Baptist.  Suppose 
he  couldn't  do  it,  what  then  ? 

" '  I  see  another  thing  here,  too :  the  good  Lord 
lets  a  bad  man  kill  a  good  man.  May-be  he  lets 
a  bad  man  make  a  good  man  slave,  and  keep  him 
slave,  and  put  a  collar  on  his  neck.  I  see  it  now. 


144  BELLE   SCOTT. 

lie  just  lets  people  be,  to  see  what  they  will  do 
in  this  world ;  lets  'em  kill  one  another,  and  make 
slave  of  one  another,  and  whip  one  another,  lie 
looks  on.  Don't  say  one  word,  till  it's  all  done ; 
and  then  ' — he  paused. 

«<And  then  what?' 

" ( I  don't  know  what  then ;  but  it  'pears  to  me, 
that  them  that's  killed  and  abused  and  made 
slave  of,  ain't  so  bad  off  then  as  them  that  did  all 
these  things.  It  'pears  so  to  me.  I  don't  know 
much — Little  Ben  got  no  1'arnin',  but  it  'pears  to 
me,  that  after  awhile — may-be  a  good  while — that 
the  man  who  put  this  collar  on  my  ole  neck,  will 
find  it  heavier  than  I  do,  and  wear  it  a  great  while 
longer  than  I  will.' 

"  Next  day  we  took  leave  of  our  friends.  Little 
Ben  and  his  wolf  went  with  us.  He  knew  the 
paths,  and  offered  to  be  our  guide. 

"  He  took  my  child  in  his  arms  and  said  he 
would  carry  her.  Our  way  led  over  narrow  and 
crooked  paths  across  logs;  sometimes  we  waded 
for  half  an  hour  through  mud  and  water :  the  large 
trees  were  all  hung  with  moss,  and  the  whole 
woods  were  dark  almost  as  night. 

"  Little  Ben  went  before  me  with  my  child  in  his 
arms,  and  acted  as  pilot.  We  heard  no  sounds 
but  the  croaking  of  large  frogs,  and  the  hootings 
of  owls.  We  walked  all  day  as  fast  as  we  could, 


LITTLE   BEN.  145 

but  did  not  reach  the  edge  of  the  swamp  before 
night.  Sometimes  we  passed  through  great  cane- 
brakes,  so  thick  that  none  but  a  person  who  knew 
the  road  could  have  found  his  way. 

"  When  we  got  nearly  to  the  edge  of  the  swamp, 
he  stopped  on  a  dry  piece  of  ground,  and  told  us 
to  rest  here  until  night,  and  then  to  travel  as  fast 
as  we  could ;  for  he  said  the  men-hunters  were 
always  about  the  swamp  with  their  dogs. 

" '  Look  here,'  said  he,  while  he  led  me  a  short 
distance.  I  looked,  and  saw  the  skeleton  of  a  man. 
On  the  bones  of  one  of  the  legs  was  an  iron  ring. 
'  This  has  been  here,'  he  said,  '  for  two  years. 
You  '11  see  a  good  many  of  them  before  you  get 
clean  away  from  this  place.  They  kills  as  many 
as  they  catches.  There,  two  more  dead  men 
close  by  here,  and  all  round  this  swamp  people 
has  been  killed.  Did  you  ever  hear  of  Wat- 
kins  ? ' 

<"No: 

" ( Well,  may-be,  you  '11  see  him.  He 's  the 
one  that  kills  our  people,  and  catches  all  he  can. 
He  shoots  'em,  and  cuts  'em  with  his  knife,  and 
sets  his  dogs  on  'em.  He 's  always  at  it.' 

"  After  awhile  he  said,  '  Read  some  more  out 
of  your  good  book.  May-be  it's  the  last  chance 
I  '11  have,  in  this  world,  to  hear  another  word  of 
it.  I  can't  road.1 


146  KELLE   SCOTT. 

"I  read  to  him  until  it  was  too  dark  to  read 
any  longer. 

" '  I  think,'  he  said,  '  if  I  could  hear  you  read 
that  book  every  day,  this  hotness  would  go  away 
out  of  my  poor  old  head.  It  seems  to  cool  it. 
It  sounds  good  to  me.  How  odd  it  is  that  one 
man  can  read  every  word  of  it,  when  he  chooses, 
and  another  man  can't !  It  seems  to  me  that 
people  have  to  take  care  of  each  other  in  this 
world.  I  have  shown  you  the  way  out  of  this 
swamp ;  ought  not  somebody  show  me  the  way 
through  that  big  swamp,  that  all  us  people  have 
to  wade  in  all  our  lives.' 

"After  we  had  rested  and  taken  some  food,  I 
was  about  to  bid  him  good-by;  but  he  said  he 
would  go  on  further  with  us. 

"  He  again  took  my  child  in  his  arms. 

" '  Let  me  carry  her,'  said  I. 

" 'Oh  no !  it  does  me  good  to  carry  the  little 
gal.  It  'minds  me  of  the  time  when  I  carried 
my  own  little  children.  It  makes  my  heart  soft, 
It  makes  me  cry,  but  all  the  time  it  makes  me 
feel  good  too.  Can't  carry  my  own  children  any 
more;  never  see  any  of  'em  again.  All  gone 
from  me.' 

"'Let  me  see,'  said  I,  'if  I  can't  get  that 
collar  off  your  neck.' 

"'No.  it  can't  be  done;  T  must  die  wid  it  on 


LITTLE   BEN.  147 

me.     Tried  hundred  times  to  get  it  off,  but  it 
won't  come  off.     Got  file  but  can't  file  it  at  all.' 

"I  still  had  my  pitchfork,  and  other  articles 
that  I  had  found  at  the  burnt  house.  We  came 
to  an  open  place  in  the  woods,  and  the  moon  alid 
stars  made  light  enough  for  me  to  see. 

"  By  my  direction  he  laid  down  by  the  side  of 
a  log,  and  rested  his  head  against  it.  I  gathered 
up  a  great  deal  of  moss  and  put  around  his  collar 
inside,  so  as  to  keep  it  from  hurting  him.  While 
I  worked,  the  wolf  stood  by,  looking  keenly  at 
every  motion  that  I  made.  I  then  applied  my 
pitchfork  to  his  collar.  The  wolf  growled  furiously. 
Little  Ben  called  him  and  held  him  by  his  lame 
foot,  while  I,  with  my  foot  on  one  side  of  the 
collar  and  the  pitchfork,  worked  at  it  for  an  hour. 
It  seemed  as  if  I  could  not  break  it.  At  last, 
with  one  sudden  wrench  it  cracked ;  Little  Ben 
leaped  up ;  he  looked  amazed  and  stupefied.  The 
wolf  looked  in  his  face  and  whined. 

'•''I  hear  it   crack,'  he   said. 

"(It   did   crack.     It's  almost  off.' 

"  '  What  dis  collar  come  off  me  !  I've  had  it 
on  dis  ole  neck  ten  years ;  I  live  wid  it  on,  sleep 
wid  it  on,  and  eat  wid  it  on — part  of  my  own 
self  almost.' 

"  He  laid  down  again,  and  with  another  effort 
the  collar  was  broken.  I  opened  it  and  took  it 


148  BELLE   SCOTT. 

from  his  neck.  Little  Ben  took  it  in  his  hands, 
held  it  up,  and  by  the  light  of  the  stars  carefully 
examined  it ;  then  rubbed  his  neck,  and  threw  the 
collar  on  the  ground.  The  wolf  seized  it  in  his 
teeth  and  shook  it  as  if  it  had  been  a  wild  animal. 

" While  I  was  taking  the  collar  off:  'Listen/ 
said  Ben,  '  don't  you  hear  dogs  bark  ?  '  I  stopped 
a  moment  and  heard  them. 

"'It's  a  sign,'  said  Ben.  'I  have  had  three 
collars  filed  off  before,  and  always  the  dogs  barked 
as  they  were  taking  them  off.  They  never  barked 
at  all  while  men  were  putting  the  collars  on  me.' 

" ( What  makes  'em  do  so  ? ' 

" '  It's  a  sign,'  he  said.  He  then  took  Lucy  in 
his  arms. 

" ( Had  you  not  better  go  back  ?'  said  I. 

" '  No ;  I  want  to  stay  with  this  child  as  long 
as  I  can — 'minds  me  so  much  of  my  poor  little 
children.  Makes  me  think  of  ole  times.  Seems 
as  if  I  never  can  leave  you.' 

" '  Well  then,  come  on  with  us.' 

" '  No ;  can't  leave  my  own  place.  Lived  thai- 
ten  years.' 

"  *  Why  can't  you  leave  it,  Ben  ?' 

" <  Don't  know — bound  to  stay  there  till  I  die. 
Don't  want  to  go  to  Canada,  I  like  to  live  in 
de  swamp — best  place  for  me ;  see  no  white  man 
dar.  Dey  freard  of  me  :  can't  get  nigh  me  ;  and 


LITTLE   BEN.  149 

wolf  here  howl  when  anything  come  nigh — so  I 
know  when  any  hounds  about.  Don't  want  to  go 
anywhere  where  white  man  see  me.  White  man 
put  another  collar  on  me.  Black  man  take  collar 
off.  White  man  can't  do  it  by  himself.' 

"  We  had  traveled  nearly  all  night  as  well  as  all 
day,  and  I  could  hardly  walk ;  I  told  Ben  so. 

" '  Come  on  a  little  further,  and  may  be  you  will 
be  out  of  white  man's  way.'  We  did  so  and 
found  a  hiding-place.  Little  Ben  and  his  wolf 
left  us,  and  we  staid  there  till  night." 

13 


CHAPTER    XXI. 


AARON'S  NAKKATIVE. 

"Ai  daylight  the  next  morning,  I  heard  some 
one  walking  carefully  through  the  leaves.  We 
laid  down  so  as  to  hide  ourselves.  The  man 
seemed  to  be  coming  toward  us.  Our  hearts  beat 
quickly;  Lucy  trembled,  and  I  feared  would  scream; 
but  we  were  still.  The  man  came  within  ten  feet 
of  us,  and  stopped,  looked  around  him  but  not  at 
us.  His  side  was  to  us.  He  was  about  thirty- 
five  years  old,  and  had  no  coat  or  vest  on.  His 
sleeves  were  rolled  up  above  his  elbows.  He  had 
a  black  beard  which  hung  down  on  his  breast,  and 
long,  black,  curly  hair.  In  a  red  belt  around  his 
waist  there  was  a  pair  of  large  revolvers,  and  on 
the  other  side  a  bowie-knife  with  a  silver  handle. 
He  held  in  his  hand  a  short  rifle.  He  was  a  man 
of  powerful  frame,  and  walked  like  a  cat. 

"  In  a  few  minutes  he  went  away  without  having 
seen  us.  I  knew  it  was  Watkins  from  what  little 
Ben  had  told  us  of  him. 

"We  were  so  scared  that  we  trembled  nearly 
all  day.  If  he  had  seen  us  we  would  have  either 
been  killed  or  taken  back  into  slavery. 

(1-0) 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  151 

"  It  rained  for  several  days  after  that,  and  we 
wandered  through  the  dark  nights,  over  fallen 
trees,  and  through  the  woods  without  a  path,  and 
through  water,  and  deep  swarnps. 

"My  child  got  sick.  We  were  both  almost 
dead  with  hunger.  One  dark  day  we  ventured  to 
travel ;  Lucy  walked,  for  I  was  too  weak  to  carry 
her.  She  was  before  me  and  ran  back  greatly 
scared.  '  Look  here,  father ;'  I  looked  and  saw 
the  skeletons  of  two  persons.  The  bones  were 
covered  with  green  mould.  A  large  rifle-bullet 
was  in  the  front  of  one  of  the  skulls. 

"  The  next  day  we  saw  another  set  of  human 
bones,  but  there  were  no  marks  of  violence  upon 
them.  He  had  probably  starved  to  death;  I 
thought  so,  because  we  were  nearly  famished. 

"We  wandered  on  and  on  through  the  cold 
drenching  rain,  and  over  creeks  so  full  that  we  could 
hardly  get  over  them.  No  game  could  be  seen.  All 
was  silent  and  dark  and  desolate.  The  gray  moss 
dripped  with  water,  no  stars  or  moon  appeared  at 
night.  Sometimes  we  heard  the  stealthy,  cat-like 
tread  of  the  panther,  but  that  did  not  scare  us. 
It  did  not  want  to  enslave  us.  Again  and  again 
in  our  weary  wanderings,  we  passed  by  the  bones 
of  men  and  women  who,  like  us,  had  longed  for 
freedom,  and  found  death.  Would  we  too  find 
only  death  ? " 


CHAPTER    XXII. 


PATSY'S  GEAVE. 

ON  a  rocky  knoll  by  the  road-side,  where  a 
narrow  lane  came  down  to  it,  two  men  were 
digging  a  shallow  grave.  Their  work  was  soon 
done,  and  a  long  box  made  of  rough  boards,  in 
which  was  the  body  of  Patsy,  was  lowered  into 
the  grave.  No  other  persons  were  there.  The 
broken  earth  was  carelessly  thrown  in,  and  the 
burial  was  over.  They  placed  no  stone  to  mark 
her  resting-place,  and  made  no  mound  of  earth 
above  it.  The  crescent  moon  was  riding  in  ma 
jesty  surrounded  by  hosts  of  brilliant  stars,  and 
white  clouds  were  slowly  floating  like  snow-wreaths 
over  the  clear  blue  sky.  A  balmy  south  wind 
murmured  as  it  passed,  bearing  on  its  wings  the 
fragrance  of  a  thousand  flowers,  and  when  the 
men  left  the  place  all  was  as  still,  and  calm,  and 
sweet  as  was  Eden  before  our  first  parents  sinned. 

A  half-witted  negro  boy  returning  home  from 
a  mill,  was  riding  slowly  along  the  road  soon  after 
the  men  went  away.  He  told  his  fellow  slaves, 
that  before  he  came  to  the  place,  he  saw,  standing 

(152) 


SUPERSTITION.  153 

by  the  grave,  amid  a  cluster  of  sumachs,  and 
sassafras,  and  persimmon  trees,  two  white  and 
glittering  shadows,  bright  as  the  sun,  and  heard 
music  so  sweet  and  sad,  that  he  cried  like  a 
little  child ;  and  that  he  saw  them  slowly  going 
up  into  the  air,  but  now  their  songs  were  full  of 
joy;  and  that  another  form  was  with  them,  like 
a  bright  cloud  when  the  sun  is  shining  on  it ;  and 
he  looked  at  them  till  they  went  up  far  in  the 
sky  and  faded  like  white  mist  out  of  his  sight, 
and  he  could  hear  their  music  no  more. 

And  down  to  this  day,  some  of  the  slaves  in 
that  neighborhood  say,  that  on  a  certain  time  in 
June,  they  hear  at  midnight,  above  that  grave, 
delicious  music,  at  first  sad  as  the  wailing  of  a 
broken-hearted  mother  for  her  child ;  and  that  as 
it  rises  higher  and  higher  in  the  air,  it  becomes 
more  joyous,  till  at  last  it  is  a  rapture  of  sweet 
songs,  and  their  hearts  grow  soft  and  warm  as 
they  hear  it,  and  they  feel  happy  as  if  they  were 
in  heaven. 

The  rocky  knoll  is  still  there,  but  the  fence 
has  been  removed,  so  that  it  stands  in  a  corner  of 
the  field,  and  persimmon,  and  sassafras  trees,  and 
sumach  bushes  cover  it ;  and  over  the  neglected 
and  .almost  forgotten  grave  of  Patsy,  a  wild  rose 
grows  and  sheds  its  fragrance  all  around  it,,  and 
guards  the  sleeping  dust  that  lies  below. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE. 

"  ONE  morning  at  the  risk  of  being  seen,  we 
continued  our  journey.  Very  soon  after  daylight, 
I  killed  a  partridge,  that  I  saw  sitting  on  a 
fence,  with  my  bow.  I  found  an  open  piece  of 
ground  covered  with  grass,  at  the  foot  of  a  large 
oak,  nearly  hid  by  hazel  bushes.  Here  I  made  a 
fire,  and  roasted  the  bird,  Lucy  was  eating  it 
with  great  relish,  her  face  bright  with  joy ;  I  was 
sitting  a  few  feet  from  her,  watching  and  enjoying 
her  pleasure,  as  much  as  if  I  had  been  satisfying 
my  own  hunger.  Suddenly  I  saw  Lucy's  eyes 
open  wide,  and  one  loud  scream  burst  from  her. 
At  the  same  instant,  five  large  hounds  sprang 
upon  both  of  us ;  one  hound,  with  ash-colored  hair 
and  large  black  spots,  seized  her  by  the  throat 
and  shook  her  as  if  he  would  have  torn  her  head 
from  her  body ;  another  caught  her  feet,  and  was 
tearing  them  to  pieces.  I  sprang  upon  the  dogs, 
and  with  one  wrench  with  my  hands,  tore  them 
away;  other  dogs  were  upon  me,  but  I  took  no 
notice  of  them.  Tn  an  instant.  T  killed  the  two 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  155 

that  had  seized  my  child,  and  I  believe,  had 
crippled  all  the  others.  They  ran  howling  from 
me.  I  turned  to  follow  them,  and  saw  on  horse 
back,  a  man  dressed  in  black,  with  a  white  cravat 
on  his  neck.  He  seemed  greatly  scared,  turned 
his  horse  and  fled  as  soon  as  I  saw  him. 

"Lucy  seemed  to  be  quite  dead;  no  blood 
flowed  from  her  wounds.  I  took  her  in  my  arms, 
and  ran  as  fast  as  I  could.  After  a  few  minutes, 
I  saw  that  she  still  breathed.  I  soon  found  a 
stream  of  water,  and  washed  her  wounds,  and 
bathed  her  face,  till  she  opened  her  eyes  and 
looked  at  me,  but  did  not  know  me. 

"After  a  while,  I  hunted  the  best  hiding-place 
I  could  find  by  the  side  of  the  run,  and  nursed 
her  until  her  senses  came  back,  so  that  she  knew 
me.  She  still  trembled  at  every  noise,  and  put 
her  little  arms  around  me,  and  looked  up  in  my 
face  so  kindly,  but  could  not  speak.  All  that 
day  and  the  night  afterward,  she  did  not  recover 
her  voice,  and  could  scarcely  hold  up  her  head. 
Her  neck  was  very  sore,  her  legs  and  feet  badly 
torn,  and  her  body  in  pain,  wherever  I  touched 
her.  I  cannot  tell  my  feelings ;  if  I  could  have 
died  for  her,  I  would  have  done  so :  whenever  she 
writhed  in  pain,  my  heart  seemed  as  if  it  would 
burst.  I  thought  over  nearly  all  my  past  life. 
It  had  been  passed  in  slavery.  My  only  child,  all 


15G  BELLE   SCOTT. 

that  I  had  on  earth ;  all  that  I  loved,  or  cared  for 
almost  in  this  world,  had  been  hunted  by  dogs, 
nearly  killed ;  and  for  what  ?  She  was  innocent, 
and  I  alone  was  to  be  blamed,  for  attempting  to 
run  away  from  slavery.  Now  she  was  sick  and 
wounded,  and  I  could  not  help  her ;  had  not  even 
food  to  give  her ;  no  friend  to  aid  me ;  no  shelter 
for  her  head,  from  the  cold  night  winds,  no  cloth 
ing  to  protect  her !  How  bitter  was  my  fate ! 
how  sad  the  fate  of  my  child. 

"  I  knew  it  would  be  still  worse,  if  we  should 
be  discovered ;  for  then  our  capture  would  be  cer 
tain.  Early  in  the  next  night,  weak  with  excite 
ment,  sorrow,  and  hunger,  sick  myself  at  my  very 
heart,  I  took  my  poor,  dear  suffering  child  in  my 
arms,  and  again  started,  to  find  if  I  could,  a  safe 
hiding-place.  Lucy  could  now  speak ;  she  was 
nervous  and  frightened,  but  her  face  was  calm, 
and  as  she  rested  her  little  head  upon  my  bosom, 
she  from  time  to  time,  consoled  me  with  her  kind 
words.  At  almost  every  step  she  suffered  pain. 
I  found  a  place  that  seemed  to  be  secure,  sheltered 
by  trees,  and  near  where  we  now  are ;  and  there, 
under  a  large,  leaning  magnolia,  I  made  her  a 
bed  of  leaves,  caught  a  bird  for  her,  and  some 
fish  for  myself;  but  I  saw  each  day,  more  and 
more  clearly,  that  she  could  not  live. 

"  One  morning  I  had  prayed  with  Lucy  accord- 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  157 

ing  to  my  custom,  and  was  reading  at  her  request, 
when  looking  earnestly  in  my  face,  she  asked  me  : 

" '  Father,  why  should  one  man  be  born  to  be 
all  his  life  a  slave,  and  another  man  to  be  his 
master  ? '  I  could  not  answer,  but  took  her  in 
my  arms ;  a  smile  brightened  her  wasted  features, 
and  she  said : 

" '  Father,  do  you  remember  the  sunset  that  we 
watched,  one  evening,  when  we  were  at  the  old 
burnt  house  ?  I  see  that  sunset  again.  I  see 
the  red  and  golden  clouds  spread  over  the  whole 
sky,  and  they  turn  and  roll  into  each  other; 
and  two  of  them  stand  widely  apart  as  if  they 
were  the  pillars  of  the  great  gate  of  heaven.  And 
far  down  between  them  I  see  brighter  and  still 
brighter  glories ;  and  away  beyond  them  still 
there  is  a  brightness,  but  it  is  not  that  of  the 
setting  sun.  And  I  see  in  the  great  space 
around  it  thousands  of  figures,  all  clothed  as  if 
their  garments  were  torn  from  the  covering  of 
the  sun.  And  I  see  a  garden,  father,  and  in  it  a 
river  clear  as  the  light,  and  its  waters  go  softly 
among  trees  green  and  beautiful  and  covered 
with  fruit.  And  the  figures  are  slowly,  slowly 
coming  to  us.  They  will  not  take  us  back  into 
slavery,  father!  they  will  not  hurt  us,  they  are' 
near  to  us  now !  They  have  wreaths  made  of 
stars  upon  their  heads,  and  their  hands  are 


158  BELLE    SCOTT. 

stretched  out  and  beckoning  me  to  come  to  them, 
father:  they  are  all  around  us;  one  of  them  is 
close  to  me — is  bending  over  me,  father.' 

"  I  pressed  her  to  my  bosom,  and  looked  in  her 
face.     She  was  DEAD  !  " 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 


REV.  MR.  ST.  JOHN. 


THE  reader  will  remember,  that  when  the  man 
who  bought  Minte  rode  up,  and  inquired  for  the 
owners  of  the  coffle  of  slaves,  he  was  informed  that 
they  were  a  few  miles  behind  the  gang. 

On  the  top  of  a  high  ridge  of  the  western  slope  of 
the  North  mountains  stood  a  tavern,  a  white  frame 
house,  two  stories  high  with  a  porch  along  the 
whole  front,  and  four  locust  trees  before  the  door. 
On  the  sign,  in  large  golden  letters,  were  the 
words,  "Mountain  Home." 

In  the  parlor  sat  three  men,  one  of  them,  Mr. 
Williams,  a  man  of  slender  person,  regular  features 
and  well  dressed ;  another,  Mr.  Bullard,  a  stout, 
burly  man  with  a  red  face  and  bushy,  gray  hair 
that  stood  up  like  bristles;  and  the  third,  u 
long,  lean,  pale-faced  man  whose  limbs  seemed 
to  be  unjointed,  dressed  in  a  full  suit  of  black. 
This,  oh  reader !  is  our  old  aquaintance,  Mr.  St. 
John.  Twenty  years  have  passed  over  him  since 
we  last  saw  him,  but  he  is  still  in  the  full  vigor 
of  active  life. 

(159) 


160  BELLE    SCOTT. 

"  I  tell  you,"  said  Williams,  "it  will  not  do;  the 
thing  is  unheard  of.  I  respect  your  motives,  my 
dear  sir,  and  have  a  high  regard  for  your  feelings ; 
but,  with  the  utmost  deference,"  waving  his  hand 
toward  Mr.  St.  John,  "  it  cannot,  and  I  think, 
ought  not  be  done." 

"  Why  not,"  said  Mr.  St.  John.  "  I  can  see  no 
earthly  reason  for  your  objections,  except  only 
the  novelty  of  the  enterprise,  and  I  do  see  a  great 
many  in  favor  of  my  proposition.  You  know  that 
now,  among  the  best  families  who  hold  slaves,  they 
are  in  the  practice,  some  of  them  daily,  and  others 
I  am  sorry  to  say,  only  once  a  week,  of  assem 
bling  their  slaves  together  and  reading  the  Bible 
and  praying  with  them.  Who  is  there  with  so 
hard  a  heart  as  not  to  feel  deep  respect  for  these 
tokens  of  piety  ?  And  yet  sir,"  and  he  raised 
his  voice, "  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  first  slave 
holder,  who  introduced  this  practice,  excited 
remark  and  surprise.  You  know  too,  that  our 
best  ministers  are  slaveholders ;  yet  I  cannot  but 
think  that  when  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  first 
bought  a  slave,  he  uas  persecuted  for  this  exhibi 
tion  of  Christian  principle.  It  is,  sir,  I  do  assure 
you,  only  the  novelty  of  the  thing  that  surprises 
you." 

"I  admit,"  said  Mr.  Williams,  "that  your 
arguments  are  strictly  logical.  It  is  right  to  hold 


REV.  MK.  SI1.  JOHN.  ICil 

slaves;  they  arc  our  property.  It  is  useless  to 
hold  them  unless  wo  have  the  right  to  sell  them, 
since  the}'  would  be  of  no  value  to  any  one  without 
the  exercise  of  that  right  at  pleasure.  If  it  is 
right  in  one  man  to  sell,  it  is  right  in  another 
man  to  buy.  The  buyer  and  seller  stand  on  an 
equal  platform.  It  is  right  for  the  owner  to  take 
them  from  one  state  into  another,  just  as  he  takes, 
at  his  pleasure,  his  other  property.  If  he  has  the 
right  to  take  them  from  one  state  into  another,  he 
has  the  right  to  secure  them  so  that  they  can  be 
so  taken." 

"  Yes,"  interrupted  Mr.  Bullard, "  that 's  clear— 
I  see  it  myself  now.  It 's  no  iise  to  have  niggers 
unless  you  can  sell  'em — and  it 's  no  use  at  all  for 
us  to  buy  'em  without  we  can  take  'em  down 
South  again  and  sell  'em ;  and  we  can't  do  that 
without  we  chain  'em — I  mean  the  men — for  if 
we  don't  chain  'em,  it  would  take  all  our  profits  to 
hire  guards  to  keep  'em ;  and  then  where  would 
be  the  use  in  the  trade  ?  and  if  the  trade  breaks 
up,  why  then,  in  course,  the  whole  system  tum 
bles  down.  I  see  it.  But  still,  Mr.  St.  John, 
I  don't  believe  one  word  in  your  new  scheme. 
It 's  all  waste  of  time.  I  see  no  use  for  us  to 
stop  on  Sunday,  to  keep  the  Sabbath  day,  as  you 
call  it,  holy.  It 's  not  a  bit  of  use  for  you  to  hold 
prayers  night  and  morning  over  the  niggers ; 


162  BELLE   SCOTT. 

'cause  they  've  got  no  souls,  as  we  have :  you 
never  seed  a  nigger,  in  all  your  life,  that  had  a 
soul,  any  more  than  a  hoss  has !  " 

Mr.  St.  John  looked  surprised. 

"  The  negroes  no  souls,  sir !  why  I  never  heard 
of  such  a  heresy  before.  Do  you  really  think, 
Mr.  Bullard,  they  are  but  beasts  ?  " 

"Certainly,"  said  Mr.  Bullard,  "I  think  so. 
Indeed  I  know  it.  Everybody  else,  that  I  know 
of,  thinks  so  too ;  you  think  so." 

"  Indeed,  Mr.  Bullard,  you  do  me  the  utmost 
injustice.  No  man  has  ever  heard  me  express  any 
such  opinion.  I  am  very  sure  that  I  never,  even  for 
a  moment,  entertained  it.  I  have  always  thought 
that  the  negroes  came  from  the  same  common 
stock  that  we  do.  But  your  argument,  Mr.  Bul 
lard,  is  not  extensive  enough,  for  some  of  our 
people  are  nearly  white ;  now  as  to  those,  they 
ought  to  be  allowed  the  rest  of  the  Sabbath." 

"  Indeed  they  ought  not  any  such  thing.  They 
are  all  niggers,  I  tell  you,  white  or  black,  and  no 
man,  woman  or  child  who  has  one  single  drop  of 
nigger  blood  in  him  or  her,  has  any  soul  more  than 
a  brute,  and  everybody  else  thinks  so  too ;  you 
do,  excuse  me,  sir." 

"  Indeed  I  do  not  think  so,  Mr.  Bullard,"  said 
Mr.  St.  John  looking  him  fully  in  the  face,  "  I 
never  thought  so." 


REV.    Mil.    ST.    JOHN.  163 

"  Yes,  indeed  you  do,  and  so  do  all  the  rest  of 
us.  Mind,  I  don't  accuse  you  of  lying.  I  never 
say  that  to  a  gentleman,  if  I  can  help  it,  for  I 
know  the  consequences ;  but  you  do  think  so,  and 
so  do  all  the  rest  of  mankind." 

"  Please  explain  yourself,  my  dear  sir ;  please 
explain  yourself,  Mr.  Bullard." 

"Well  I'll  tell  you,  and  it's  just  this.  If 
niggers  has  got  souls,  some  of  'ern  will  go  to 
heaven,  and  they'll  tell  all  the  angels  such  a  mess 
of  stuff  on  the  white  people,  and  us  especially,  that 
when  we  die,  and  go  up  there,  there  will  be  such 
a  muss  made,  that  we  '11  be  glad  to  get  out  of  the 
scrape." 

"Mr.  Billiard,"  said  Mr.  St.  John,  "you  shock 
me.  Do  you  expect  to  go  to  heaven  ?  " 

"Why  certainly  I  do.  Did  you  ever,  in  all 
your  life,  see  a  man  that  did  not  expect  to  go  there 
when  he  died  ?  Expect  to  go  to  heaven  indeed  !— 
certainly  I  do.  But  I  can't  go  to  a  heaven  full 
of  niggers,  without  they  are  kept  chained.  I  never 
feel  myself  safe  among  niggers  without  they  are 
well  handcuffed." 

"  But,  Mr.  Bullard,  this  does  not  prove  your 
assertion,  that  I  believe  negroes  have  no  souls." 

"  Well  then,  I'll  explain  myself.  You  see,  ef 
they  are  humans,  as  we  are,  then  they  ought  to 
be  treated  like  humans.  Nobody  does  that.  I've 


164  BELLE    SCOTT. 

been  in  the  free  states,  and  there  too  the  white 
people  go  just  as  far  as  the  law  allows  'eni  to  treat 
'em  like  brutes.  They  don't  sell  'em  —  good 
reason  for  that — they  can  't ; — they  don 't  hold 
'em  as  slaves,  'cause  the  law 's  ag'in  it ; — but  they 
treats  the  whole  of  'em  as  near  to  brutes  as  they 
dare  to  for  the  law,  and  some  of  'em  goes  a  great 
deal  further  than  the  law  allows.  Now  there  must 
be  some  reason  for  this  kind  of  conduct  everywhere, 
and  the  true  and  honest  thing  is,  just  because 
every  man 's  own  sense  tells  him  that  somehow 
niggers  is  not  human,  like  we  are.  Stand  on  that 
ground  and  you  are  safe ;  but  the  very  minit  you 
take  that  thar  other  ground,  that  they  are  humans, 
then,  begging  your  pardon,  the  devil's  to  pay 
with  the  whole  kit  of  us." 

"Well,  but  (said  Mr.  St.  John,)  I  do  not  see 
that  your  argument  is  good ;  there  are,  and  always 
will  be,  classes  in  society;  and  here  we  have  a 
class  of  masters  and  a  class  of  slaves." 

"  Very  well,  sir,  here  is,  as  you  call  it,  a  class 
of  slaves — a  class  that  you  call  men ;  but  they 
ain't  men,  'cause  if  they  are  men,  then  they  ought 
to  have  men's  rights ;  and  they  have  not  one  bit 
of  human  rights." 

"  Well,  sir,  the  Bible  plainly  teaches  that  men 
may  be  held  as  slaves.  St.  Paul  sent  back  a 
fugitive  slave  to  his  master." 


REV.    MR.    ST.   JOHN.  165 

"How's  that? ''said  Mr.  Bullard:  "I've  read 
the  whole  Testament  twice  through,  and  there  is 
no  such  thing  as  a  nigger  in  it,  from  beginning  to 
end." 

"  Certainly,"  said  Mr.  St.  John  :  "there  were  no 
Africans  in  Judea;  they  never  left  their  own 
country,  until  they  were  forcibly  brought  away; 
and  that  commenced  not  more  than  three  hundred 
years  ago.  The  slaves  alluded  to  in  the  Bible,  were 
not  negroes." 

"  Who  were  they  then  ? "  said  Mr.  Bullard. 

"  Why,  they  were  people  of  the  same  complexion 
with  their  masters;  poor  people  who  had  been 
reduced  to  servitude." 

"  Oho !  sir,  that's  it,  is  it  ?  When  you  and  other 
gentlemen  talk  about  slavery  being  in  the  Bible, 
you  mean  white  slavery,  do  you  ?  Well,  that  may 
suit  you,  but  it  don't  suit  me  at  all,  sir ;  not  a  bit 
of  it.  I  want  you  to  prove  from  the  Bible,  that 
niggers  is  rightly  slaves;  and  you  turn  round  and 
prove  that  poor  white  people  ought  to  be  slaves : 
well,  that  don't  suit  me.  This  business  that  we 
are  in,  is  rather  risky,  and  next  year  we  may 
all  be  as  poor  as  Job's  turkey ;  so  then  we  ought 
all  be  slaves,  ought  we  ?  No  you  oughtn't. 
You've  got  a  profession,  and  Mr.  Williams,  he 
might  get  be  clerk  for  somebody ;  but  as  for  me, 
according  to  what  you  say,  I  ought  to  be  a  slave. 

14 


166  BELLE    SCOTT. 

That  don't  suit  me.  So  then  when  I  hear  of  you 
and  other  preachers,  saying  that  slavery's  all 
right,  and  that  the  Bible  says  so ;  you  only  mean 
that  poor  people  ought  to  be  slaves  to  the  rich. 
Well  that's  comfortable — its  quite  refreshing ;  but 
for  my  part,  I  ain't  willing  to  pay  for  preaching  like 
that.  Let  those  pay  for  it  as  likes  it.  Do  you 
pray  for  it  too,  Mr.  St.  John  ?  Preaching  and 
praying  ought  to  go  together ;  a  man  ought  not 
to  preach  one  way,  and  pray  another  way.  Don't 
you  know  that  half  the  poor  people  in  this  coun 
try  are  grandchildren  of  rich  men  ;  and  I  suppose 
it  is  always  so.  Now  it  must  be  nice  in  these 
rich  men,  to  pay  a  man  for  preaching  in  such  a 
way  as  to  make  their  grandchildren  slaves,  as 
far  as  preaching  can  do  it.  They  must  be  smart 
people — sensible  people  them,  sir." 

"But  my  dear  sir,"  said  Mr.  St.  John,  "they 
know  that  there  is  no  danger  of  their  children 
being  made  slaves ;  we  only  prove  the  principle 
by  the  Bible,  and  then  apply  it  to  the  negro 

race." 

"  Well,  I  see  that  plain  enough :  you  prove  that 
niggers  ought  to  be  slaves,  'cause  you  say  poor 
white  people  ought  to  be  so ;  and  niggers  is  no 
better  than  poor  white  people.  That's  real  nice ; 
you  ought  to  go  down  to  North  Carolina,  and  be 
a  candidate  for  congress ;  you  would  run  fast  if 


REV.   MR.    ST.    JOHN.  167 

you  didn't  get  elected,  as  soon  as  the  people 
found  out  exactly  what  you  meant — indeed  you 
would,  sir. 

"Now  sir,  all  this  won't  do.  The  only  real 
solid  ground  we  can  stand  on,  is,  that  niggers  are 
almost  humans,  but  jest  miss  it  a  little ;  that  they 
come  pretty  nigh  having  souls,  but  not  quite. 

"  If  you  go  one  step  above  that,  we're  all  gone, 
sir ;  we  are  all  in  for  it,  up  to  our  eyes,  sir." 

"My  dear  sir,"  said  Mr.  St.  John,  "I  really 
have  been  unable  to  convey  my  exact  meaning. 
It  is  probably  my  fault,  that  I  have  not  yet  so 
fully  explained  myself  as  to  be  well  understood. 
The  relation  of  the  slave  to  his  master,  is  a  bene 
ficent  one.  It  gives  to  the  poor  negro  food  and 
clothing,  and  shelter  and  protection.  He  is  so 
ignorant  and  has  so  little  capacity,  that  this  is 
greatly  desirable  for  him.  To  the  master  it  gives 
steady  service  and  faithful,  though  humble  friends. 
You  see,  then,  that  in  the  relation,  as  God  in 
tended  it,  there  is  great  good  to  both  parties." 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  see  it  clearly  enough,  and  under 
stand  you  much  better  than  you  think  I  do. 
The  real  thing  is,  that  I  understand  you  better 
than  you  understand  yourself.  A  common  thing, 
sir,  for  all.  Some  men  may  open  their  eyes  and 
stare  when  you  tell  'em  so,  but  it  is  so,  sir. 

"  Now  this  is  what  you  mean.     You  say  it 's 


168  BELLE    SCOTT. 

right  for  you  to  preach  that  slavery  is  upheld  by 
the  Bible.  Well,  sir,  there  I  don 't  dispute  you 
at  all ;  so  far  as  niggers  is  concerned,  I  agree  to 
that.  Well  then  if  it 's  right  for  you  to  preach  so, 
it 's  right  for  every  other  preacher  in  the  United 
States  to  preach  so  too.  'Cause  'ef  the  thing 's  in 
the  Bible  they  all  should  preach  it;  just  as  it  is 
thar,  without  caring  a  copper  who  it  helps  or  who 
it  hurts. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  St.  John,  "I  see  that  you  do, 
so  far,  more  fully  understand  me  than  many  men 
who  make  greater  pretensions  to  readiness  of 
apprehension. " 

"  Oh !  as  for  readiness  of  apprehension,  as  you 
call  it,  which  means  I  suppose,  sir,  quick-witted, 
we  common  people  have  just  as  much  good  mother 
wit,  as  you  learned  men  have,"  said  Mr.  Bullard, 
"and  sometimes,  begging  your  pardon,  sir,  but 
by  no  means  a-meanin '  you,  I  think  we  have  a 
good  deal  more — but  that 's  neither  here  nor  there. 
Well  then  let  me  go  on. 

"  Then  you  say  that  the  Bible  justifies  white 
people  being  slaves,  if  they  're  poor  and  can't  take 
care  of  themselves  ! " 

"Oh  no!  sir,"  said  Mr.  St.  John;  "  I  really 
have  said  no  such  thing." 

"  Begging  your  pardon,  sir,  you  have  not  said 
so  in  words,  but  what  you  did  say,  means  that. 


REV.  MR.   ST.    JOHN.  169 

people  as  can't  take  care  of  themselves,  ought  to 
have  somebody  to  take  care  of  "em ;  people  as  is 
bad  oflj  ought  to  have  somebody  to  find  'em  a 
home,  and  food,  and  clothes,  and  protection. 
Now  I  know  a  good  many  white  people  in  these 
here  states,  in  North  Carolina,  where  I  come  from, 
and  in  Virginny  and  Georgy,  and  all  these  states 
south  of  Potomac,  who  make  a  mighty  bad  out 
takin'  care  of  themselves,  and  are  sometimes  bad 
off  for  corn-bread  and  clothes,  and  all  sich  things. 
Now  if  you  and  all  the  preachers  will  go  about 
the  country,  and  preach  up  that  black  people 
ought  to  be  slaves,  because  they  are  so  ignorant, 
and  poor — by-and-by  you  will  be  getting  to  making 
white  folks  slaves,  not  all  at  once,  but  by  little  and 
little,  edging  in  here  and  there,  beginnin'  with 
paupers,  and  men  who  have  been  whipped  for 
stealing  sheep  and  chickens,  and  so  creeping  along 
by  degrees,  till  at  last,  rich  men  will  not  only  own 
all  the  land,  but  all  the  people  white  and  black 
that  live  on  it.  I  tell  you  again,  sir,  that  don't 
suit  me.  You  prove  too  much  for  me,  and  not  a 
bit  in  the  right  place.  I  want  you  to  prove  out 
of  the  Bible  that  niggers  ought  to  be  slaves, — I 
want  it  for  a  good  reason  too.  It  will  help  me  in 
my  trade,  sir.  Many  a  good  bargain  have  I  lost, 
because  when  I  was  getting  it  nearly  closed,  the 
man  would  stop  and  say, '  Well  I  don't  like  to  sell 


170  BELLE   SCOTT. 

human  flesh  and  blood,  the  Bible  's  again  it/  or 
may-be  his  wife  would  come  out  and  say  so  to  him 
and  I  would  have  to  go  away.  Now  if  you  will 
find  me  plain  good  places  in  the  Bible  where  it 
says  it 's  right  to  hold  niggers,  and  sell  'em,  and 
all  that,  I  '11  give  you  the  price  of  the  best  nigger 
in  our  gang,  as  soon  as  we  sell  'em  at  New  Orleans ; 
I  will  make  lots  of  money  by  it  too,  'cause  I  can 
carry  a  little  Bible  in  my  pocket  when  I  go  out 
to  buy,  and  with  the  leaves  turned  down  and  the 
places  marked  with  a  pencil,  and  then  when  I 
come  across  one  of  these  here  squeamish,  half 
Christian,  half  devil  cowards,  I  '11  just  pull  out  the 
book  and  read  it  to  him,  and  make  money  by  it, 
But  if  it  only  means  you  may  sell  white  people,  it 
would  get  me  into  bad  scrapes,  for  they  would  try 
to  whip  me.  People  see  into  millstones  quicker 
than  you  think  for." 

"  But,"  said  Mr.  St.  John,  "  let  us  return  to 
the  point  from  which  we  started.  You  said  that 
I  believe  negroes  have  no  souls :  this  I  denied  ; 
but  you  reiterated  the  statement :  that  was  not 
fair,  Mr.  Bullard,  you  did  me  injustice." 

"  I  meant  no  offense,  sir ;  not  a  bit  of  it,  and 
I  am  sincere.  I  say  again  that  you  yourself 
don't  believe  that  a  nigger  has  a  soul  no  mor'n 
a  hoss." 

"  Why,  Mr.  Bullard,  I  am  really  surprised  that 


REV.    MR.    ST.    JOHN.  171 

you  should  say  so,  after  I  have  told  you  exactly 
the  contrary.'' 

"Ah!"  said  Mr.  Bullard,  "  I  told  you  that  I 
understand  you  better  than  you  know  yourself, 
and  I  do,  too.  Mean  no  offense,  sir — not  a  bit 
of  it.  You  say  they  are  men,  but  you  treat  'em  like 
beasts :  conduct  speaks  louder  than  words.  When 
ever  I  see  a  man  preaching  and  praying  to  niggers, 
I  git  mad  right  on  the  spot.  Ef  they're  brutes, 
what's  the  fellow  preaching  and  praying  to  brutes 
for ;  ef  they're  men" — here  Mr.  Bullard  paused. 

"  Well,  what  follows  if  they  are  men,"  said  Mr. 
St.  John. 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Bullard,  "ef  they're  men 
they  ought  to  be  treated  like  MEN — that 's  all  that 
follows." 

"  I  agree  with  you,"  said  Mr.  St.  John,  "  they 
should  be  treated  as  men ; — for  that  very  reason 
I  wish  to  stop  to-morrow,  that  being  the  Sabbath, 
and  give  them  rest  and  religious  instruction." 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Bullard,  "if  they  are  men; 
they  ought  to  be  treated  as  men — and  not  like 
cattle  ;  that 's  my  doctrine.  If  a  man  is  a  man, 
he  is  a  MAN,  sir." 

"Don't  become  excited,  Mr.  Bullard," 

Oh  !  I  'm  not  a  bit  mad  at  you,  sir ;  I  like  you  ; 
I  respect  you :  I  don 't  like  your  doctrine — my 
doctrine  is,  that  white  people  ought  to  be  free  and 


172  BELLE   SCOTT. 

niggers  ought  be  slaves ;  and  I  believe,  it'  a  vote 
could  be  got  to-day,  more  than  half  the  people  in 
these  United  States  would  agree  with  me  in  that 
p'int.  But  still  I  like  you,  because,  sir,  you  talk 
and  act  right  out  what  you  are.  Now  I  know 
plenty  of  preachers,  and  deacons,  and  elders,  and 
class-leaders  who  would  be  very  much  scandalized 
at  being  where  and  what  you  are  to-day.  No 
offense,  sir ;  in  principle  they  are  exactly  with  you, 
but  they  are  too  big  cowards  to  be  open  about  it,  sir. 
I  've  had  secret  partners  in  my  business,  who  let  me 
have  money  to  buy  niggers  with  and  shared  the 
profits  of  the  trade,  who  wouldn't  for  the  world 
have  had  their  names  mentioned  concerning  it. 
Big  men  in  churches,  great  Christians,  talk  just 
as  you  do — act  just  as  you  do — only  behind  the 
curtain.  I  don't  like  that.  Let  a  man  be  a  man, 
or  a  mouse,  sir.  The  thing 's  right  or  it 's  wrong. 
Ef  it 's  right,  be  a  man  and  act  it  out ;  ef  it 's 
wrong,  why  don't  they  keep  out  of  our  trade  ? 
And  these  very  same  fellows  all  the  time  say, 
slavery  is  right  for  niggers,  and  hold  'em  as 
slaves." 

"I  do  most  decidedly  condemn  such  people," 
said  Mr.  St  John,  "  and  it  is  for  that  very  reason 
that  I  am  here  openly  maintaining  n,y  princi 
ples.  I  practice  as  I  preach,  as  every  minister 
should. 


REV.    MR.    ST.    JOHN.  173 

"God  is  no  respecter  of  persons;  He  is  the 
father  of  all  the  people  in  that  quarter  of  the 
globe  called  Africa,  as  well  as  he  is  of  all  the 
people  in  Asia,  Europe,  and  America.  It  is  only 
on  the  ground  that  the  institution  of  slavery  is 
merciful  and  according  to  his  will,  that  it  can  for  a 
moment  be  sustained.  If  it  is  not  so,  it  should  be 
immediately  abandoned.  God  is  eternal,  and  it 
follows  from  his  eternity  that  there  can  be  no  to 
morrow  with  him.  All  things  are  now  to  him.  All 
men  must  repent  of  sin  now.  If  slave-holding 
is  a  sin,  it,  like  all  other  sins  must  be  instantly 
forsaken.  If  it  can  be  continued  till  to-morrow, 
according  to  the  will  of  God,  it  can  be  continued 
to  eternity  according  to  his  will. 

"  All  very  fine  preaching,"  said  Mr.  Bullard — 
"  very  fine  indeed,  sir ;  but  I  tell  you — I  tell  you, 
sir,  that  nine-tenths  of  the  white  people  in  this 
whole  country,  don't  believe,  and  never  have 
believed,  a  word  of  it,  so  far  as  niggers  is  in  it. 
I  don't  dispute  but  what  it 's  right  enough  for 
white  people — nor  does  anybody  else  that  I  know 
of;  but,  sir,  when  you  come  to  put  this  here  fine 
talking  on  niggers'  heads,  the  cap  don't  fit  'em, 
sir.  That 's  my  belief,  and  so  I  sell  'em  and  buy 
'em  and  make  all  the  cash  I  ken  out  of  the  trade ; 
just  because  it 's  all  right,  and  as  decent  a  busi 
ness  as  selling  sheep,  or  horses  or  any  other  trad- 

15 


174  BELLE    SCOTT. 

ing  in  live  stock.    I  '11  stick  to  it  too  ;  the  people  's 
on  my  side  and  they  are  right. 

"  But  it 's  no  use  talkin'  to  you  about  this ;  \ve 
can't  see  alike,  and  what 's  the  use  of  disputes 
among  gentlemen." 

Mr.  Bullard  went  away. 

"  I  tell  you,  my  dear  sir,"  said  Mr.  St,  John  to 
Williams,  "that  the  slaveholder  who  first  intro 
duced  family  worship  among  his  slaves,  was  a 
benefactor  to  his  country.  It  has  added  to  the 
respectability  of  the  institution,  and  placed  it  on 
its  right  foundation.  He  ought  to  have  a  monu 
ment  erected  to  his  memory." 

"Of  brass?"  said  Mr.  Williams. 

"I  care  not  whether  it  is  of  brass  or  marble," 
replied  Mr.  St.  John,  "  he  ought  to  have  a  monu 
ment  erected  to  preserve  his  name  to  all  posterity. 
And  all  that  I  wish  to  do  now  is,  to  tread  humbly 
and  at  a  distance  in  his  footsteps,  and  have  family 
worship  and  the  due  observance  of  the  Sabbath, 
and  all  the  decencies  and  duties  of  Christianity 
carried  into  the  slave-trade.  Rely  upon  it,  my 
dear  sir,  it  is  for  the  want  of  these  observances, 
that  our  trade  is  disreputable ;  that  even  the  men 
who  sell  to  the  trader,  look  upon  him  with  loathing 
and  contempt.  I  have  embarked  in  this  trade 
with  the  view  of  reforming  its  abuses.  I  have 
been  laboring  for  years  as  a  minister  in  reforming 


REV.    MR.    ST.    JOHN.  i75 

the  abuses  of  slave-holding,  and  showing,  and 
proving  the  sanctity  of  the  relation  of  master  and 
servant;  but  so  many  fellow-laborers  are  now  in 
this  part  of  the  vineyard,  that  I  have  left  it,  and 
come  in  to  more  neglected  places.  This,  sir,  is  the 
point  of  attack,  and  it  should  be  our  point  of  de 
fense.  Slavery  is  the  corner-stone  you  know,  sir, 
of  our  republican  institutions.  The  relation  of 
master  and  servant,  is  ordained  of  God,  and  sanc 
tioned  by  his  Church.  The  power  of  truth  is 
wonderful.  It  has  compelled  many  of  the  churches 
in  the  free-states,  to  acknowledge  that  our  institu 
tions  are  right.  A  minister,  especially  one  who 
holds  slaves,  is  not  only  received  as  a  brother 
among  them,  but  is  counted  worthy  of  double 
honor ;  of  his  full  share,  because  he  is  a  minister ; 
and  of  superadded  honor,  because  he  is  a  slave 
holder. 

"  Now,  I  have  no  wish  to  labor  in  this  depart 
ment,  unless  I  can  do  so  as  a  Christian  minister. 
I  want  to  reform  the  abuses  of  the  slave-trade, 
and  to  make  it  as  respectable  as  slave-holding  is. 
They  are  all  parts  of  the  same  system ;  each,  a 
link  of  the  same  chain ;  from  the  African  slave- 
trade  to  slave-holding,  and  the  domestic  slave- 
trade.  If  one  link  breaks;  the  chain,  and  all 
that  depend  upon  it,  fall  to  the  ground.  This,  I 
repeat,  sir,  is  the  point  of  attack,  and  must  be  the 


176  BELLE   SCOTT. 

place  of  our  defense.  The  slave-buyer,  and  the 
slave-seller  are  equals  in  fact,  and  must  be  made 
so  in  public  esteem." 

"My  dear  sir,"  said  Williams,  "your  argu 
ments  cannot  be  refuted  except  upon  the  ground, 
that  the  scheme  is  wholly  impracticable.  The 
white  men  who  accompany  slave  coffles  as  drivers 
or  owners,  will  never  appreciate  your  motives, 
nor  understand  your  philosophy ;  nor  will  the 
slaves  themselves  be  profited  by  your  labors. 
You  do  not  sec; n  to  have  thought  much  of  Mr. 
Bullard's  arguments.  Have  you  given  any  atten 
tion  to  his  view  of  the  case  ?  coarsely  expressed, 
it  is  true,  sir ;  but  still,  I  submit,  worthy  of  some 
attention." 

"  What !  that  negroes  are  not  human  beings  ? 
that  the  great  masses  of  the  American  people,  prac 
tically  deny  they  are  immortal  ?  If  the  negro  is 
immortal,  why  is  he  held  as  property,  as  the  horse 
or  the  ox  ?  If  he  is  immortal,  why  is  he  bought 
and  sold  in  the  market  ?  If  he  is  immortal,  why 
is  not  his  immortal  nature  provided  for?  The 
truth  is,  my  dear  sir,  immortality  and  slavery  are 
wholly  incompatible ;  you  have  no  more  right  to 
chain  an  immortal  man,  than  you  have  to  climb 
into  heaven,  and  put  fetters  on  every  angel  of 
God.  But  I  take  the  position  that  he  is  not 
immortal ;  and  in  this  I  am  supported  by  every 


REV.    MR.    ST.    JOHN.  177 

constitution  and  every  law  and  every  custom  Qf 
the  states  or  of  society  that  treats  him  either  as 
a  slave  or  as  an  inferior  being.  All  these  con 
stitutions,  all  such  laws,  all  such  customs  of  states 
or  of  society,  are  but  Atheism,  if  slavery  is  wrong. 
They  all  rest  on  the  principle  that  the  negroes  are 
below  the  human  race,  and  therefore  of  right  are 
held  in  bondage  to  their  superiors.  Examine  the 
matter  as  you  will,  you  will  at  last  find  that  this 
is  the  turning  point  of  the  whole  controversy,  and 
it  is  useless  and  cowardly  in  us  to  attempt  to 
disguise  it.  Let  us  meet  it  as  men,  and  at  the 
very  point  upon  which  the  controversy  does  turn, 
or  let  us  quit  our  defense. 

"  The  Bible,  I  assure  you,"  said  Mr.  St.  John, 
"  when  critically  examined,  fully  supports  the  sys 
tem  of  slave-holding.  Men  who  are  wholly  dis 
interested  in  supporting  that  system,  in  the 
quietness  of  their  closets  have,  after  careful  inves 
tigation,  reached  this  conclusion,  and  published  the 
result  of  their  inquiries  for  the  benefit  of  the  world. 
To  suppose  them  insincere,  would  be  to  make  them 
as  ministers,  leading  thousands  and  tens  of  thou 
sands  of  men  and  women  down  to  hell,  when  they 
are  watchmen  on  the  walls  of  Sion,  and  are  paid, 
some  of  them  well  paid  too,  for  the  very  purpose 
of  teaching  them  their  duty,  and  pointing  them 
to  the  narrow  path  that  leads  to  heaven. 


178  BELLE    SCOTT. 

"  No,  sir,  you  by  your  theory,  do  great  injus 
tice  to  these  worthy  persons.  They  are,  I  repeat, 
men  of  great  learning,  and  men  too,  whose  piety 
is  attested  by  all  the  churches.  They  differ 
upon  many  points  of  theology  and  religious  duty ; 
but  agree  on  this." 


CHAPTER    XXV. 


AARON  S   NAREATIVE. 


"  IT  is  impossible  to  describe  the  feelings  of  a 
man  whose  every  hope  is  dead.  I  had  longed  for 
freedom,  but  it  was  for  my  child.  I  had  hopes 
of  happiness  but  all  were  for  her.  I  had  looked 
forward  to  a  future,  bright  in  proportion  to  my 
present  darkness,  and  endured  my  sufferings,  and 
still  more,  bore  the  full  weight  of  my  wrongs  and 
hardships  almost  with  cheerfulness,  fully  believing 
that  when  the  day  dawned  at  last,  every  shade 
of  our  night  of  sorrows  would  be  chased  away. 
But  now  I  had  nothing  to  hope !  and  the  full 
weight  of  my  sorrows  settled  down  with  its  moun 
tain  load  upon  my  pained  and  beating  heart. 

"I  had  worked  hard  all  my  life;  my  limbs 
were  stiff  with  toil  ;  my  hair  was  gray ;  my  body 
almost  worn  out — and  what  was  the  result  of  all 
this  care  and  labor  ?  Here  I  was  in  a  wild  wilder 
ness,  hiding  from  the  face  of  my  fellow-man ; 
without  food ;  without  clothes ;  without  a  house  to 
shelter  me ;  without  a  foot  of  land ;  without  cattle 
or  horses,  or  even  a  dog  or  cat ;  and  what  I  felt 

(179) 


180  BELLE   SCOTT. 

still  more  keenly,  without  a  coffin  for  my  only 
child,  or  a  cover  to  shield  her  body  from  the  dust, 
or  a  spade  even  to  dig  with  my  own  hands  her 
little  grave. 

"  I  thought,  and  oh !  how  bitter  was  the 
thought,  why  it  was  that  God  made  one  man  a 
slave,  and  another  man  to  call  himself  his  master ! 
I  almost  repined,  until  better  thoughts  and  better 
feelings  came  upon  me,  and  then  I  remembered 
that  this  life  would  soon  be  over,  and  that  another 
and  a  far  longer  one  would  come,  when  the  slave 
and  his  master  w-ould  meet  on  an  equal  footing 
before  the  God  and  Father  of  all." 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE. 

"I  COULD  not  bury  the  body  of  Lucy,  for  a 
day  even,  after  I  knew  she  was  dead.  I  still 
took  her  in  my  arms,  but  her  kind  words,  and  her 
suffering,  patient  looks,  and  the  faint  voice  call 
ing,  'Father,'  were  all  gone,  and  she  too  was 
gone. 

"  I  was  calm.  I  knew  that  suffer  as  I  might, 
I  ought  not  to  grieve  at  a  change  which  had  freed 
her  from  the  curse  of  slavery.  The  earth,  wetted 
by  my  tears,  received  her  lifeless  form,  and  I 
knew  that  she  had  gone  where  no  tyranny  could 
crush — no  cruelty  oppress  her.  I  marked  the 
little  grave  ;  at  night  it  was  my  pillow,  in  the  day 
time  I  could  not  leave  it ;  I  staid  close  by  it,  till 
this  flood  drove  me  away,  to  save  my  life. 

"  Yonder  it  lies,  under  the  foot  of  that  tall 
poplar  tree,  just  on  that  little  grassy  knoll.  I 
shall  die  soon,  and  oh  master !  as  you  have  been 
so  good  to  me,  let  me  beg  you  now,  to  have  my 
poor  body  buried  by  the  side  of  Lucy's,  that  we 
may  rise  together  in  the  last  day." 

(181) 


182  BELLE   SCOTT. 

I  promised  him  that  I  would  do  so  if  in  my 
power ;  and  then  he  resumed  his  story. 

"  I  had  now  no  longer  any  wish  for  freedom  or 
for  life.  All  that  I  had  loved  and  lived  for  on 
earth,  was  gone.  The  solitude  of  the  wilderness 
oppressed  me.  I  felt  now,  for  the  first  time,  its 
awful  stillness.  But  for  my  Bible,  my  prayers,  and 
what  I  believe  is  the  presence  of  God,  it  would 
have  killed  me.  The  energy  that  had  borne  me 
up  now  forsook  me,  and  the  disease  that  my 
determination  to  escape  had  kept  in  check,  now 
conquered  its  unresisting  victim.  In  a  few  days 
I  know  I  shall  die ;  my  cough  is  almost  incessant, 
and  my  body  is  racked  with  pains.  Master,  in  a 
few  days  more,  I  shall  no  longer  be  a  fugitive 
slave  but  a  free  man.  In  a  few  days  more  it  will 
be  no  crime  to  treat  me  with  kindness,  and  no 
disgrace  to  greet  me  as  a  brother.  In  a  few  days 
more  I  shall  be  out  of  the  control  of  the  slave 
laws,  that  have  so  oppressed  me,  and  under  a  far 
different  system  of  government.  I  shall  see 
Lucy,  and  be  with  her  forever,  and  go  in  and 
come  out  with  her  without  trembling,  when  I 
shall  meet  any  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  to 
which  I  am  going." 

This  coughing  became  almost  incessant,  and  I 
too  felt  assured  that  his  life  was  rapidly  drawing 
to  its  close.  At  his  request  I  took  him,  leaning 


AARON'S  NARRATIVE.  183 

on  ray  arm,  to  the  grave  where  his  Lucy  lay. 
The  water  had  now  fallen  so  that  we  could  walk 
there.  When  we  reached  it  he  stood  over  it  for 
a  moment  in  silence,  and  then  lay  down  on  the 
ground  with  his  head  resting  on  the  head  of  her 
little  grave.  I  brought  from  my  tent  some 
blankets  and  pillows,  and  other  necessary  comforts, 
and  after  that  we  made  that  place  our  home.  My 
whole  time  was  occupied  in  reading  to  him  pas 
sages  from  his  Bible,  such  as  he  selected,  for  the 
whole  of  it  was  far  more  familiar  to  him  than  to 
me. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 


HON.    JOHN    STRONG. 


THE  honorable  John  Strong  was  elected  to  Con 
gress  many  years  ago.  He  was  at  all  times  a 
devoted  friend  of  the  people,  and  firmly  believed 
that  the  representative  has  but  to  obey  the  will 
of  his  constituents,  lie  also  believed  that  a  true 
party  man,  must  at  all  times  support  the  measures 
of  his  party.  It  so  happened,  while  he  was 
in  Congress,  that  his  party  were  in  favor  of  a 
measure,  to  which  a  large  majority  of  his  consti 
tuents  were  opposed.  Here  was  a  conflict  of 
principle.  The  powers  at  Washington  and  the 
powers  at  home  could  not  agree ;  and  Mr.  Strong, 
after  due  deliberation,  professed  himself  to  his 
fellow  members  "  true  as  steel,  and  firm  as  a  rock," 
and  voted.  His  constituents  remonstrated;  and 
it  was  plain  to  all,  that  his  claims  for  re-election 
were  gone. 

But  Mr.  Strong  got  an  appointment,  a  clerkship 
with  a  salary  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars  a  year,  in 
an  office  in  Washington.  This  consoled  him,  this 
more  than  comforted  him.  In  due  time,  Mrs. 


HON.    JOHN    STRONG.  185 

Strong  was  advised  of  this,  and  the  honest-hearted 
woman  thought  the  fortunes  of  the  family  were 
made  and  secured  for  life.  Fifteen  hundred  dol 
lars  a  year,  to  her  imagination,  seemed  an  almost 
inexhaustible  mine  of  wealth.  Fifteen  hundred 
dollars  for  only  one  year !  and  work  but  six  hours 
a  day  at  that,  and  live  in  Washington !  how  fortu 
nate  was  she  that  she  had  married  a  great  man.  , 
Mr.  Strong,  Mrs.  Strong,  and  six  little  Strongs 
moved  to  Washington,  and  lived  on  in  peace  till 
another  Pharaoh  reigned,  who  knew  not  Joseph. 
Then  things  changed :  Mr.  Strong's  services,  and 
his  vote  were  not  so  highly  prized  as  they  had 
been.  His  talents  were  now  underrated.  It 
was  even  thought  that  another  could  perform  the 
duties  of  his  place,  as  well  as  he.  Mr.  Strong  lost 
his  office ;  but  got  another,  at  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  a  year.  But  his  wife,  was  a  "  manag 
ing  woman."  Her  first  care  when  she  came  to 
Washington  was,  to  get  into  "  genteel  society." 
Her  next,  to  keep  in  that  society.  She  soon 
found,  to  use  her  own  phrase,  that  those  who 
owned  no  negroes,  "  were  looked  down  upon ; " 
and  Strong  had  no  rest,  till  he  consented  to  buy 
a  negro.  "Let  it  be  a  woman,"  said  Mrs.  Strong, 
for  reasons  she  then  assigned;  and  she  was 
commissioned  to  buy  one,  with  their  scanty  sav 
ings.  But  after  several  inquiries,  she  found  that 


186  BELLE    SCOTT. 

women  were  high,  and  therefore  made  up  her 
mind  to  buy  a  girl.  A  poor,  sickly  girl  at  last 
was  found,  and  bought  at  a  low  price.  This  girl 
was  Patsy. 

Years  passed  on,  and  Patsy  grew  up  and  was 
married,  and  the  mother  of  three  children ;  when 
one  evening,  after  Strong  and  his  wife  had 
returned  from  a  party,  and  were  seated  by  the 
fire,  Mrs.  Strong  said  : 

"Well,  I  have  often  advised  }7ou  within  the 
last  year,  to  sell  her ;  but  you  never  will  take  my 
opinion  on  anything,  till  it  is  too  late.  I  tell 
you  the  girl  is  sick,  and  will  die  on  our  hands? 
and  be  a  dead  loss  to  us,  of  fifteen  hundred  dol 
lars.  She  has  never  been  hearty  since  the  birth 
of  her  last  child,  and  now  she  is  worse  than  ever. 
We've  got  to  part  with  her,  and  the  only  question 
is,  whether  we  shall  get  fifteen  hundred  dollars  in 
cash — more  money  of  your  own,  than  you  ever 
had  at  one  time,  in  all  your  days — or  whether  we 
shall  get  nothing  at  all.  Now,  make  up  your 
mind  to-night,  for  the  man  is  to  call  to-morrow 
for  his  answer.  Come  now,  John,  don't  be  foolish, 
take  my  advice  for  once  in  your  life.  You  know, 
when  she  wanted  to  live  in  the  house  on  the  alley 
with  her  husband  and  children,  you  opposed  it 
till  I  reasoned  you  out  of  it ;  and  then  when  they 
got  into  that  house,  we  've  had  no  expense  with 


HON.    JOHN   STRONG.  187 

the  family.  Her  husband  is  a  free  negro,  and 
gets  good  wages,  and  has  nothing  else  to  do 
with  his  money,  but  to  take  care  of  his  wife  and 
children." 

"But,"  said  Strong,  "what  will  become  of  the 
children,  if  we  sell  her — of  her  babe  ;  they  are  too 
young,  to  take  care  of  themselves ;  and  you  have 
no  time  to  see  after  them  properly  ?  " 

"  Well  now,  it  does  seem  to  me,"  said  his  wife, 
"  that  you  have  not  one  particle  of  sense  ;  I  mean 
of  course,  common  sense.  I  know  you  have  states 
man  talents  enough  to  be  President.  Cannot  the 
girls  take  care  of  the  baby  ?  and  has  not  Jim 
always  taken  care  of  his  family  ?  Ain't  he  a 
Christian,  and  do  you  think  he  will  let  them 
suffer,  because  their  mother  is  gone  ?  " 

"But,  my  dear,"  said  Mr.  Strong,  "is  not  that 
an  imposition  on  Jim?  " 

"  How  so  ?"  said  Mrs.  Strong :  "  is  it  an  imposi 
tion  on  you,  that  you  have  to  take  care  of  your 
children  ?  Ain't  he  their  father,  and  oughtn't  he 
to  take  care  of  'em  ?  Won't  it  afford  him  pleasure 
to  do  so  ?  What  else  has  he  to  do  with  all  the 
money  he  gets  ?  He  is  a  good  carpenter,  and  I 
do  believe,  that  at  the  end  of  the  year  he  lays  up 
more  money  than  you  do ;  or  he  would  do  so,  if 
he  did  not  spend  it  on  his  family." 


188  BELLE   SCOIT. 

"I  don't  want  to  sell  the  girl;  she  is  a  good 
girl  and  has  been  a  faithful  servant." 

"But  how,  in  this  world,  can  we  afford  to  lose 
fifteen  hundred  dollars  ?  You  '11  drive  me  dis 
tracted  :  it's  no  use  to  reason  with  you,  and  never 
was.  We  '11  all  be  in  the  poor-house  in  six  months, 
and  that  too  when  the  girls  need  part  of  the 
money  to  prepare  for  their  sister's  wedding. 
They  must  go  to  Martha's  wedding,  and  they  can 
not  do  so  unless  great  additions  are  made  to  their 
wardrobe.  It  will  not  be  treating  Mr.  Leathers 
respectfully,  if  they  either  stay  away  altogether 
or  go  there  among  strangers  in  such  a  plight  that 
they  will  not  be  fit  to  be  seen.  And  as  for 
Martha,  she  is  so  close  that  she  won't  let  them 
have  a  single  cent.  You  know  that." 

"Well,  Eliza,"  said  Mr.  Strong,  "it  is  use 
less  to  attempt  to  answer  your  arguments.  I 
leave  the  whole  responsibility  of  this  matter 
with  you.  I  think  myself  that  Patsy's  health 
will  be  improved  if  she  is  taken  to  a  warmer 
climate.  It  may  prolong  her  life." 

Jim  had  often  been  told  by  Mr.  Strong  and 
Mrs.  Strong  and  all  the  young  Strongs  that  he 
was  highly  favored  by  being  allowed  to  visit,  and 
even  to  live  with  his  wife  and  children ;  and  from 
time  to  time  he  was  reminded  that  Mr.  Hunt  and 
Mr.  Wilson,  and  other  gentlemen  in  the  city,  did 


JIM    WISE.  189 

not  allow  any  free  colored  persons  to  visit  their 
servants.  Poor  Jim  felt  grateful,  very  grateful 
for  the  blessings  conferred  upon  him  by  the 
Strongs,  and  was  willing  and  ready  at  all  times  to 
do  such  little  services  as  lay  in  his  power  for  so 
kind  a  family.  He  cut  their  wood  and  put  in 
their  coal ;  blacked  Mr.  Strong's  boots,  and  as  the 
young  ladies  grew  up  he  carried  parcels  for  them 
to  different  parts  of  the  city,  and  in  a  thousand 
ways  made  himself  useful  to  the  family. 

On  Monday  night  after  this  conversation  occur 
red,  Jim  was  requested  to  go  on  an  errand  for 
Mr.  Strong,  down  near  £he  long  bridge  across 
the  Potomac ;  and  while  he  was  gone  the  traders 
came  and  carried  off  his  wife. 

He  returned  and  reported  himself  to  Mr. 
Strong,  and  then  making  an  humble  bow  went 
out  by  the  back  door  to  his  house.  As  he  ap 
proached  he  was  surprised  to  find  it  all  dark, 
lie  laid  his  hand  upon  the  latch  and  listened  for 
a  moment,  but  all  was  still.  He  trembled  as  he 
went  in  and  stood  for  an  instant  silent  in  the 
middle  of  the  room.  He  called  and  a  child's 
voice  from  under  the  bed,  sobbing  and  low,  said 
"  Father,  is  that  you  ?" 

"Yes,  Pauline,  it 's  me."  His  children  rushed 
out  and  clung  to  him. 

"  Where  is  your  mother,  Harry  ?" 

10 


190  BELLE   SCOTT. 

"  Oh,  father !  men's  come,  and  hit  her  hard,  and 
put  his  hand  over  her  mouth,  and  tied  her,  and 
took  her  away,  and  hurt  little  sister  too.  They 
coined  just  after  you  went  away :  Mr.  Strong- 
corned  with  'em ;  and  mother's  gone." 

Jim  groaned — looked  hastily  in  the  cradle, 
and  finding  his  youngest  child  there,  sat  down  and 
took  his  little  girl  and  boy  upon  his  knees.  He 
spoke  not  a  word ;  no  tears  came  to  relieve  his 
heart.  There  he  sat  in  the  dark  and  silent  room, 
till  both  his  little  ones  had  sobbed  themselves 
asleep  upon  his  breast.  He  then  put  them  in  their 
bed,  and  sat  down  again ;  sat  again  in  the  dark, 
silent  room,  till  the  town  clock  struck  twelve,  and 
Jim  aroused  himself,  and  prepared  to  go  to  bed. 
He  walked  a  step  or  two,  and  fell  prostrate  on  the 
floor.  A  chill  as  of  death,  passed  over  his  whole 
body.  Cold  sweat  stood  in  great  drops  upon  his 
forehead.  His  limbs  were  stiff  and  motionless ; 
but  his  mind  was  more  active  than  it  had  ever 
been  before.  His  whole  life  had  been  one  of 
sorrow  and  suffering ;  and  all  these  sorrows,  were 
now  poured  into  his  swollen  heart,  in  one  bitter, 
burning  agony.  What  had  he  done  more  than 
others,  that  he  should  be  thus  singled  out  from 
among  men,  and  made  to  suffer  as  man  had  never 
suffered  before  ?  All  around  him  were  men ;  some 
with  high  honors,  others  with  wealth,  and  nearly 


JIM    WISE.  191 

all  with  abundant  sources  of  comfort  and  happi 
ness  ;  even  the  poorest,  were  rich  in  the  love  of 
their  wives  and  children ;  but  he  had  no  wife  now, 
and  his  children  were  slaves.  Their  mother's  fate 
awaited  them,  and  one  by  one,  they  too  would  be 
sold.  He  was  about  to  pray,  and  then  he  thought 
that  God  was  no  friend  of  his,  and  he  would  not 
pray  to  him.  At  last  the  fountain  of  his  tears 
was  opened,  and  his  heart  softened,  and  then  he 
prayed — prayed  in  agony  for  his  wife,  for  his 
children,  for  those  who  had  sold  her,  for  those 
who  had  bought  her,  and  for  those  who  made 
and  sustained  the  laws  under  which  she  had  been 
sold.  A  calm,  as  of  oil  upon  troubled  waters, 
soothed  his  heart ;  and  he  rested  his  throbbing 
head  upon  the  bed,  by  the  side  of  which  he  knelt. 
Was  he  asleep  ?  or  had  nature  given  way,  under 
the  shock  he  had  sustained  ?  He  was  insensible 
for  a  time,  and  was  then  aroused  by  a  soft  hand 
passing  over  his  forehead,  and  wiping  the  tears 
from  his  cheeks.  He  looked  up ;  were  those  white 
wings  that  fanned  him,  the  wings  of  an  angel 
sent  from  God  to  strengthen  him?  were  those 
words  that  fell  like  soft  and  delicious  music  upon 
his  soul,  the  whisperings  of  the  angel  ?  and  those 
hopes  that  soothed  his  heart,  as  they  bade  him  be 
of  good  cheer,  assuring  him  that  his  brother 
mechanics,  and  brother  men  would  not  suffer  his 


192  BELLE   SCOTT. 

little  ones  to  remain  much  longer  slaves,  but  would 
soon  arouse,  and  speak,  and  write,  and  preach,  and 
vote,  and  pray  for  GOD  and  FREEDOM  ;  were  they 
the  delusions  of  a  fevered  brain,  or — were  they 
sober  facts  ? 

On  that  night,  the  flag  on  the  dome  of  the 
Capitol  waved  in  the  wind,  and  displayed  grace 
fully  its  stars  and  stripes  as  it  spread  with  each 
passing  breeze,  and  the  angel  that  had  borne  that 
flag  through  the  stormy  battles  of  the  revolution, 
stood  by  the  side  of  it  grasping  its  staff  in  his 
right  hand,  while  in  his  left  he  held  a  golden 
censer  filled  with  the  tears,  and  groans,  and 
prayers  of  poor  Jim ;  which  he  was  carrying  to 
the  Lamb  of  God. 

Was  it  for  this,  that  he  had  borne  that  flag 
amid  the  din,  and  dust,  and  shout,  and  uproar, 
and  whirlwind  of  battle,  at  Bunker  Hill,  at  Sara 
toga,  at  Yorktown  and  the  Cowpens?  Was  it 
for  this;  when  its  folds  were  dripping  with  the 
warm  blood  of  the  heroes  who  fell  beneath  it,  and 
it  was  overborne  and  trodden  in  the  dishonored 
dust  by  superior  power,  that  he  had  raised  it,  and 
cheered  with  new  hopes  the  failing  hands  of  those 
who  bore  it ;  till  at  last,  Victory  placed  her  laurel 
crown  upon  it,  and  Peace  folded  it  as  a  robe  about 
her,  and  blessed  it  forever?  The  angel  looked 
upon  the  censer  filled  with  the  agony  and  prayers 


JIM    WISE.  193 

of  poor  Jim ;  and  then  upon  the  flag,  and  burying 
his  face  in  its  sacred  folds,  wet  it  with  his  tears, 
and  ascended  to  Heaven. 

On  the  next  Thursday  night,  all  was  life  and 
gayety  at  Mr.  Strong's.     A  new  piano  stood  in 
the  parlor ;  new  Brussels'  carpet  covered  the  floor, 
and  the  three  Miss  Strongs,  each  in  a  new  satin 
dress  with  lace  collars  and  sleeves,  received  their 
guests.     The  party  was,  as  all  said,  really  a  grand 
one.     Members  of  Congress  were  there ;  a  Secre 
tary  and  two  Judges ;  four  attaches  of  the  French 
and  Prussian  embassies,  with    close-fitting  coats 
and  elegant  moustaches,  were  attentive  to  the 
hostess  and  her  lovely  daughters.     Mr.  Strong 
was  happy.     No  one  could  have  been  more  cordial 
or  more  kind.     He  went  from  room  to  room — 
complimented   the    young   ladies   on    their   fine 
dancing;  their  mothers  on  their  youthful  looks, 
and  then  in  half  a  minute  was  seated  at  a  card- 
table  in  a  back  room,  talking  of  the  good  old 
times  when  he  was  in  Congress,  to  General  Bungo, 
the  new  member  from  Louisiana.    Mrs.  Strong  was 
happy;   the  day  had  at  last  come,  when  their 
family  was  duly  appreciated.     The  guests  retired ; 
the  lamps  were  all  put  out  save  one ;  and  Mrs. 
Strong  said  to  her  husband  :  "  Did  I  not  tell  you  to 
leave  these  things  to  me  ?  and  you  did  so ;  and 
now  I  hope  you  see  that  you  have  a  wife?" 


194  BELLE   SCOIT. 

"  Yes,"  said  Strong,  "  Eliza,  I  am  proud  of  you ; 
you  are  indeed  a  helpmate  and  a  treasure." 

At  eleven  o'clock  the  next  day,  many  persons 
who  were  at  the  party  were  seen  slowly  walking  up 
the  steps  of  the  Capitol.  They  took  their  seats  in 
their  respective  houses  and  talked  of  tariffs  and 
banks,  and  the  improvement  of  rivers  and  harbors ; 
of  the  Constitution  and  its  "  compromises  "  and 
guarantees ;  of  the  greatness  of  our  country  and 
the  advance  of  liberty  throughout  the  world.  But 
he  who  ventured  to  say  that  slave-holding  is  a 
sin,  was  looked  upon  by  nearly  all  of  them  as  a 
fanatic  or  a  simpleton — one  to  be  contemned  or 
despised.  Did  they  represent  the  people  of  the 
United  States?  Will  they  so  represent  them 
forever  ? 

"  I  saw  you  at  the  party,  last  night,"  said  Mr. 
West,  a  young  clerk  in  the  Treasury  department 
to  Mr.  Irwin,  also  a  clerk  in  the  same  department, 
as  they  met  in  their  office  early  in  the  morning. 
"  I  hope  you  had  a  pleasant  time." 

"  It  was  very  pleasant  indeed,  while  I  was  there  ; 
but  when  I  went  home  the  colored  man  who  has 
the  care  of  my  room,  told  me  that  Mr.  Strong, 
only  last  Monday  night,  sold  his  cook  Patsy 
to  Weston  the  trader,  and  ever  since  I  heard 
that,  I  have  a  horrible  taste  of  human  blood  on 
my  teeth.  I  cannot  wash  it  off.  I  cannot  get 


JIM    WISE.  195 

rid  of  it.  Every  drop  of  coffee  or  wine  that  I 
drank  and  every  particle  of  cake  or  food  that  I 
ate  seems  now  to  me  to  have  been  mixed  with 
and  steeped  and  soaked  in  that  woman's  blood. 
Bah  !  it  makes  me  sick.  I  feel  as  if  I  had  been 
at  a  feast  of  cannibals." 

"You  surprise  me,"  said  Mr.  West;  "you,  a 
Kentuckian,  to  entertain  such  sentiments  !  Do 
you  not  know  that  if  you  utter  them  you  will  lose 
your  office  and  your  position  in  society?  It  is 
downright  Abolitionism." 

"  Bah !  the  taste  of  that  woman's  blood  is  on 
every  tooth  in  my  head,"  said  Mr.  Irwin ;  can 
you  tell  me  how  to  get  rid  of  it  ?  I  would  not  live 
a  week  with  such  a  horrible  feeling  over  me,  as  I 
have  this  morning,  for  all  the  offices  together  that 
the  government  can  give.  I  am  sick." 

"  But  it  is  your  own  fault  that  you  are  sick ;  you 
alone  are  to  blame  for  it.  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
court  were  there,  and  they  are  not  sick ;  members 
of  Congress  were  there — they  are  not  sick ;  even 
clergymen  were  there,  and  not  one  of  them  is  sick. 
It  must  be  your  own  fault  that  you  have  such 
queer  tastes.  You  will  be  in  favor  of  abolishing 
slavery  in  this  District  before  long." 

"  I  am  in  favor  of  it  now,"  said  Mr.  Irwin.  "  It 
is  of  no  benefit  to  any  people  to  aid  them  in  sin.': 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 


AARON S   DEATH. 


ON  the  second  day  after  they  went  to  the 
grave,  the  sun  rose  beautifully  bright ;  a  few  clouds 
were  driven  by  the  wind  across  the  face  of  the 
sky ;  a  breeze  murmured  through  the  leaves,  and 
all  was  as  balmy  as  a  day  in  early  spring.  But 
Aaron  was  suffering  intensely.  He  asked  Mr. 
Reed  to  read  one  more  passage  in  the  Bible,  and 
told  him  the  place.  Mr.  Reed  turned  to  it,  and 
his  eyes  so  filled  with  tears  while  he  read,  that  he 
could  hardly  do  so.  It  was :  "  The  Lord  hear 
thee  in  the  day  of  trouble.  The  name  of  the  God 
of  Israel  defend  thee ;  send  thee  help  from  the 
sanctuary,  and  strengthen  thee  out  of  Zion." 

Aaron  then  gave  him  his  Bible.  Mr.  Reed 
thanked  him  for  the  present,  and  has  ever  since 
kept  it  as  a  sacred  treasure.  He  looked  over  its 
pages  and  saw  some  writing  on  the  blank  leaves. 
Aaron  told  him  he  wrote  it  at  his  wife's  request. 
She  had  been  charged  with  murdering  a  child,  of 
which  she  was  innocent,  and  what  he  wrote  was 
her  statement  of  the  matter.  It  covered  all  the 

(190) 


AARON'S  DEATH.  197 

blank  leaves  of  the  book,  and  was  so  badly  written 
and  so  blotted  that  he  could  not  read  enough  of 
it  to  understand  it. 

About  noon  of  that  day  Aaron  seemed  to  be 
much  better;  indeed  Mr.  Reed  thought  he  would 
recover.  He  still  had  fever  but  his  face  was  calm, 
and  bore  but  few  traces  of  pain.  He  talked  of 
Lucy,  and  of  the  Bible,  and  of  freedom,  and  of 
God  and  his  hopes  of  heaven.  He  continually 
exhorted  Mr.  Reed  to  prepare  for  what  he  called 
life  in  earnest.  He  said,  he  forgave  all  who  had 
wronged  him ;  even  those  who  had  murdered  his 
child.  After  awhile  his  agony  returned.  Then 
after  a  struggle  he  slept, — he  slept, — 

"  And  the  sunshine  of  heaven  burst  bright  on  his  waking, 
And  the  song  that  he  heard,  was  the  seraphim's  song." 

The  hunter  went  to  his  tent,  and  brought  with 
him  a  spade,  and  some  boards  and  clothing ;  with 
these  he  prepared  the  body  of  Aaron  for  the  grave 
which  he  dug.  He  laid  his  body  out,  close  by 
the  side  of  Lucy's  grave  ;  and  then,  after  taking 
some  refreshment,  prepared  himself  to  pass  the 
night  as  a  watcher,  by  the  corpse.  He  sat  down 
on  the  trunk  of  a  fallen  tree  with  his  back  resting 
against  a  projecting  limb,  and  there,  wrapped  up 
in  his  cloak  by  the  side  of  a  small  fire,  passed, 
what  to  him  was  one  of  the  most  serious  and 
eventful  nights  of  his  life. 


198  BELLE   SCOTT. 

As  the  cold,  stiff  body  of  Aaron,  dressed  in 
white,  was  lying  upon  the  ground,  with  his  face 
toward  the  sunrise,  the  night  dews  gathered 
thickly  over  it,  and  a  bright  and  beautiful  star 
came  out  from  heaven  and  looked  down  upon  it, 
and  trembled  as  it  looked,  and  then  passed  on 
bearing  the  story  of  his  wrongs  to  eternity. 
Another  and  another  star  came  out,  and  each 
looked  down  on  the  corpse,  as  with  the  eye  of  an 
archangel,  and  trembled  and  went  on  its  course, 
adding  the  story  of  Aaron's  sorrows  to  its  hoarded 
centuries  of  knowledge.  Our  hunter  thought, 
these  stars  will  all  fade  away  into  endless  night, 
and  be  forgotten ;  but  for  all  the  ages  and  for 
eternity,  Aaron  will  live  on  and  on,  and  ever  and 
ever  on,  full  of  happiness  and  love. 

And  how  great !  how  wonderful  was  the  change 
to  Aaron  !  But  yesterday,  the  basest  white  man 
in  the  land  thought  himself  his  superior,  and  could 
treat  him  with  scorn ;  to-day,  as  he  mingled  with 
the  hosts  of  heaven,  angels  and  archangels  bowed 
with  reverence,  as  they  met  him  and  greeted  him 
as  a  brother.  But  yesterdav  a  fugitive  slave ! 

v  »/  O 

to-day  a  king  and  priest  unto  God  ! 

Aaron  is  immortal,  and  the  hunter  therefore  is 
immortal.  He  always  thought  so,  but  the  thought 
was  vague,  and  dim,  and  misty ;  now  he  grasped 
the  truth,  as  a  man  grasps  a  great  cable  in  his 


THE   NIGHT    WATCH.  109 

hand.  Why  then  struggle  for  immortality  on 
earth  ?  What  do  Milton,  and  Shakspeare,  and 
Goethe  care  now  that  men  are  reading  and  prais 
ing  their  works?  The  good  deeds  which  men 
may  leave  behind  them,  like  the  long,  warm, 
lingering  glow  of  a  summer  sunset,  are  all  the 
works  that  even  the  best  can  look  back  upon 
with  interest,  after  they  have  passed  into  the 
other  life. 

All  men  are  immortal,  and  therefore  all  men 
are  equal.  And  the  petty  inequalities  of  the 
passing  hour,  are  but  as  when  a  great  host  of 
travelers  is  passing  along  an  undulating  road ; 
one  for  the  moment  may  be  on  ground  higher 
than  his  fellows,  but  he  passes  over  it  and  is  gone ; 
another,  and  another  take  his  place,  and  they  too 
pass  on. 

Man  is  immortal,  and  this  great  fact  lifts  the 
rich  man  above  his  wealth,  and  the  king  above 
his  throne,  and  the  slave  above  his  fetters,  and 
places  all  alike  on  the  equal  platform  of  MAN. 
Wealth  or  position,  are  but  the  garments  of  a 
day ;  whether  they  are  on  or  off,  the  MAN  remains. 

Our  hunter  looked  at  the  body  of  Aaron,  and 
remembered  how  often  that  body  had  been  sold  : 
here  yet  lay  the  same  flesh,  and  bones,  and  heart, 
and  brain ;  who  would  buy  it  now  ? 

He  renewed  his  fire,  looked  around  him  at  the 


200  BELLE   SCOTT. 

woods,  and  at  the  slowly  moving  water,  and 
wrapping  his  cloak  about  him,  took  his  seat  again 
and  was  soon  asleep. 

He  dreamed  that  he  was  in  some  island  in  the 
Pacific  ocean,  and  saw  a  great  crowd  of  savages 
with  their  faces  painted  in  streaks  of  red  and 
black,  and  quills  in  their  hair,  dancing  around  na 
enemy  slain  in  war ;  and  then  they  cut  his  body 
into  small  pieces  and  prepared  it  for  food.  He 
saw  the  priests  of  their  religion  stand  over  the 
loathsome  repa  -t  and  bless  the  banquet. 

The  scene  changed — he  was  in  a  great  city,  and 
passing  through  a  market-place  crowded  with 
people :  he  saw  a  woman  with  a  tub  covered 
with  a  white  cloth,  on  a  stall.  What  have  you 
for  sale,  my  good  woman?  She  withdrew  the 
cloth,  and  showed  him  human  feet ;  he  passed  to 
the  next.  "  What  have  you  for  sale  ?"  a  cloth  was 
removed,  and  he  saw  a  tub  filled  with  human 
hands;  the  hands  of  little  children,  and  of  grown 
up  men  and  women  ;  he  went  to  the  next,  and 
was  shown  human  hearts,  some  almost  warm  with 
life ;  he  went  on  to  the  next,  and  a  man  took  the 
cover  from  a  hogshead,  and  showed  it  full  of 
ghastly  human  heads ;  he  passed  on  to  the  next, 
the  woman  had  no  tub  upon  her  stall,  nothing  but 
a  napkin  wrapped  up  and  lying  before  her.  "  And 
what  have  you  for  sale?"  he  inquired.  She 


THE   DREAM.  201 

unfolded  the  napkin,  and  showed  him  a  jewel 
brighter  than  the  morning-star,  and  spotted  all 
over  with  blood.  "  What  is  that,  good  woman  ?" 
She  drew  his  ear  close  to  her  and  whispered,  "  It 
is  a  human  soul,  and  these  spots  on  it,  are  the 
blood  of  Christ."  He  passed  on  to  the  next  stall, 
a  tall  man  stood  at  it,  and  a  beautiful  young  man 
by  his  side.  «  What  do  you  sell  here  ?  "  «  This 
boy  is  for  sale,  I  will  take  a  thousand  dollars  for 
him.  The  others  that  you  have  just  seen,  sell 
only  the  dead ;  I  sell  the  living." 

"  Do  you  sell  his  soul  ?  "  he  inquired. 

"  Certainly  I  do.  I  sell  you  the  whole  living 
human  being,  as  he  now  stands  before  you,  from 
the  crown  of  his  head,  to  the  soles  of  his  feet. 
Sell  his  soul !  of  what  use  would  his  body  be  to 
any  purchaser,  without  his  soul  ?  His  body  is 
but  the  covering  of  his  soul :  the  thinking,  talk 
ing,  working  intelligence,  are  all  that  give  him 
greater  value  in  our  market  than  a  horse.  Sell 
the  soul !  what  else  is  there  for  sale  here  ?  " 

"  I  will  neither  buy  nor  sell  men's  souls  "  said 
Edgar,  "Christ  has  purchased  all  of  them  with 
his  own  blood,  and  they  belong  to  him." 

"Ha  !  ha!"  shrieked  the  whole  crowd  of  sellers, 
at  the  mention  of  that  name,  "We  sell  the  souls 
of  the  slaves,  and  buy  the  souls  of  the  pur- 


202  BELLE   SCOTT. 

chasers.  Ha !  ha !"  And  then  in  the  shape  of 
fiends  they  vanished  from  his  sight. 

He  awoke;  a  screech-owl  was  seated  on  the 
limb  over  his  head,  shrieking  Ha !  ha  ! 

He  got  down  from  his  seat  and  renewed  his  fire, 
and  walked  about  thinking  all  the  while  of  his 
strange  dream.  "Is  our  state  of  civilization  so 
low  that  some  grave  Senators  whom  the  world 
delights  to  honor,  are  in  truth  but  little  in 
advance  of  the  South-sea  savage,  with  a  fish-bone 
stuck  through  the  cartilage  of  his  nose,  and 
eagles'  feathers  in  his  uncombed  hair,  and  his  face 
bedaubed  with  streaks  of  black  and  red  paint  ? 
Is  this  the  light  in  which  posterity  will  view 
them :  would  some  ministers  too  bless  a  cannibal 
feast?  Where  is  the  essential  difference  between 
the  man  who  eats  human  flesh,  and  the  one  who 
buys  and  sells  it  ?  and  who  buys  and  sells  the 
souls  of  his  fellow-men,  all  spotted  with  the  blood 
of  their  Redeemer  ?"  He  was  young  and  inex 
perienced,  and  could  see  no  difference.  And  he 
thought  too,  "  Christianity  has  abolished  canni 
balism  in  many  islands  of  the  South-sea,  within 
a  few  years  after  the  Gospel  was  preached  to  their 
inhabitants.  Why  has  it  not  abolished  the  canni 
balism  of  the  United  States  ?  the  selling  of  men, 
and  women,  and  children  in  public  markets,  and 


THE   NIGHT  WATCH.  203 

in  open  day  ?  "  The  reason  may  be,"  he  said, 
"that  savages  were  ignorant  arid  poor,  and  the 
truth  was  preached  fearlessly  to  them,  while  the 
slave  dealers  are  rich  and  some  of  them  intelligent, 
and  awe  the  preachers  into  silence  and  submis 
sion." 

With  this  dream  and  these  thoughts  the  night 
wore  away  so  rapidly,  that  he  was  surprised  when 
the  gray  dawn  of  the  morning  broke  upon  him. 
He  placed  Aaron's  body  in  the  grave  and  with 
drew  to  his  tent. 

He  hurried  his  preparations  for  departure,  set 
fire  to  the  pile  of  brushwood,  and  the  signal  soon 
brought  the  men  and  boat  to  take  him  away. 
His  success  in  hunting  fully  answered  his  highest 
hopes.  The  men  took  down  his  tent,  and  carried 
whatever  was  worth  taking  care  of  to  the  boat- 
When  all  was  ready,  he  told  them  to  wait  for  him 
a  few  minutes.  He  then  made  his  last  visit  to  the 
graves  of  Aaron  and  Lucy.  The  hot  sunshine 
rested  upon  them,  and  the  spider  had  woven  her 
web  over  them.  All  was  still  as  in  the  night — 
all  was  silent  as  the  graves  before  him.  He  felt 
as  if  a  friend  had  left  him,  but  not  forever — Oh 
no !  not  forever  ! 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 


THE    HUNTEK. 


EDGAR  found  Mr.  Talbot  still  at  the  wood-yard, 
with  the  same  cordial  greeting,  and  frank  hospi 
tality,  and  eager  inquiry  for  news.  He  told 
Edgar  that  he  could  get  nearly  as  good  a  price 
for  his  venison  and  other  game  from  some  trading 
boat,  as  at  New  Orleans.  He  did  not  want  to 
return  to  that  place,  because  he  had  deliberately 
made  up  his  mind  never  to  set  up  another  type  in 
any  printing-office  that  sustained  or  apologized  for 
the  slavery  of  man. 

In  a  few  hours  a  boat  on  its  passage  to  New 
Orleans,  stopped  at  the  woodyard,  and  Edgar 
sold  out  his  whole  stock  of  game  and  hunting- 
gear  to  the  clerk  of  the  boat. 

Soon  afterward  it  began  to  rain ;  the  hours  hung 
heavily  upon  him  until  about  nine  o'clock  at 
night,  when  he  was  cheered  by  seeing  the  lights, 
and  hearing  the  sounds  of  a  boat  ascending  the 
river.  He  held  up  a  blazing  torch,  the  bell  of 
the  boat  rang  out  her  answer  to  his  signal,  and  in 
a  few  moments  after  taking  leave  of  his  host,  he 

(204) 


THE   STEAMBOAT.  205 

was  on  board.  It  was  raining,  and  cold,  and 
dark,  when  lie  got  on  the  boat,  and  the  change 
of  scene  was  like  passing  into  a  fairy  land.  The 
boat  was  gorgeous  as  the  palace  of  an  eastern 
prince,  blazing  with  lights,  and  decorated  with 
vases  of  fresh  flowers.  Mirth  and  music,  and  a 
party  of  young  people  dancing,  filled  the  cabin. 
Dazzled  and  half  stunned,  Edgar  stood  alone  in 
the  crowd  looking  upon  the  scene.  Before  he 
recovered  from  his  surprise,  a  vision  so  full  of 
grace  and  beauty  swam  before  his  sight,  that  his 
senses  reeled  as  he  gazed  at  the  lovely  object. 
It  was  a  girl  in  the  full,  ripe  bloom  of  early 
womanhood,  taller  and  larger  than  women  gener 
ally  are,  with  clear  dark  skin  and  exquisitely 
chiseled  Grecian  features,  large  lustrous  black 
eyes  that  swam  in  liquid  tenderness ;  her  half- 
parted  lips  disclosed  a  set  of  teeth,  even,  and 
white  as  ivory.  She  stood  at  the  entrance  of  the 
ladies'  cabin,  apart  from  the  dancers,  with  her 
right  foot  extended  and  gently  leaning  as  she 
looked  at  them.  Her  only  ornament,  a  half- 
blown  moss-rose  carelessly  placed  in  her  hair, 
black  as  the  raven's  wing ;  her  air  of  gentleness 
and  purity,  filled  the  atmosphere  around  her; 
sorrow  and  meek  resignation  spread  over  her  oval 
face,  and  told  too  plainly  that  her  heart  was  filled 
with  grief. 


206  BELLE    SCOTT. 

While  he  was  almost  involuntarily  gazing  at 
her,  a  gentleman  touched  his  elbow. 

"  Mr.  Reed,  I  believe  !  I  have  not  seen  you  on 
the  boat  before ;  when  did  you  get  on  ? " 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Ives  !  I  am  glad  to  meet  you.  I  got 
on  at  the  wood-yard,  not  ten  minutes  ago.  I 
have  been  two  weeks  on  a  hunting  excursion,  and 
have  seen  the  face  of  but  one  white  person 
during  that  whole  time,  until  I  came  on  the  boat. 
I  am  on  my  way  to  Pittsburgh." 

"  I  am  very  glad  of  it,  I  shall  have  your  com 
pany  as  far  as  we  go ;  but  we  leave  at  Guyandotte, 
and  will  go  across  the  state  of  Virginia  to  Rich 
mond." 

"Who  is  that  beautiful  young  lady  standing 
just  in  the  shade  of  the  door,  at  the  entrance  of 
the  ladies'  cabin  ?  " 

"  That  lady  near  the  door,  in  a  dove-colored 
silk  dress  with  flounces,  is  Miss  Mary  Scott, 
sir." 

"No,"  said  Edgar,  "she  is  not  the  lady;  1 
mean  the  one  near  her,  plainly  dressed  in  black 
silk.  She  is  wonderfully  beautiful." 

"  Oh,  that  is  Belle  !  Miss  Scott's  attendant." 

"  What  is  her  name  ?  "  said  Mr.  Reed. 

"  Of  course,  Scott ;  as  she  is  Mr.  Scott's  servant, 
^he  bears  the  name  of  her  master." 

"  She  a  servant !    Mr.  Scott  her  master !  "  said 


THE   STEAMBOAT.  207 

Mr.  Reed  :  "  Is  there  not  a  striking  resemblance 
between  her  and  Miss  Mary  Scott  ? " 

"I  have  never  seen  any,"  said  Mr.  Ives  drily, 
"  and  I  have  been  acquainted  with  both  of  them 
since  they  were  children.  Miss  Mary  Scott  has 
blue  eyes  and  soft,  brown  hair ;  she  is  small.  Belle 
has  black  eyes  and  black  hair,  and  is  large.  Both 
have  fine  features,  it  is  true,  but  they  are  very 
greatly  unlike  each  other." 

"  It  is  no  uncommon  thing,"  said  a  gentleman 
who  was  standing  by  them,  "  for  a  master  to  have 
servants  that  greatly  resemble  his  own  children." 

"It  is  not,"  said  Mr.  Ives,  "but  in  this 
instance  I  have  never  observed  any  such  like 
ness." 

"  I  saw  it  but  for  an  instant,"  said  Edgar,  "  and 
now  upon  looking  again,  I  can  see  nothing  of  it. 
It  was  an  instant  flash,  and  is  gone." 

"You  seem  to  think  Belle  beautiful,"  said  Mr. 
Ives.  "  She  is  so,  but  you  have  not  seen  a 
woman  for  two  weeks  till  now,  and  of  course  they 
appear  to  better  advantage  than  if  you  had  not 
been  so  long  deprived  of  their  society." 

The  party  danced  on  long  after  Edgar  had 
retired  to  his  stateroom  and  was  asleep. 

The  next  morning  a  group  that  formed  a  circle 
around  a  man  in  the  cabin,  were  listening  to  his 
remarks ;  some  with  half  suppressed  pleasure ; 


208  BELLE   SCOTT. 

others,  with  surprise  at  his  boldness,  and  others, 
with  anger. 

Mr.  Ives  and  Edgar  went  forward,  to  see  and 
hear  the  cause  of  the  excitement. 

A  middle-aged  and  intelligent  looking  man  was 
standing  in  the  midst  of  the  crowd,  the  object  of 
their  attention. 

"I  tell  you,"  said  a  gentleman  to  him:  "it 
will  not  do  to  talk  so  here ;  you  may  think  as 
you  please,  but  it  is,  I  assure  you,  really  unsafe  to 
express  such  thoughts." 

The  man  raised  himself  to  his  utmost  height, 
and  fixing  his  eyes,  glowing  like  coals  of  fire,  upon 
the  person  who  addressed  him,  slowly  said  in  a 
clear,  firm  voice,  "  I  am  a  free  man.  The  right 
of  free  speech,  is  an  inalienable  and  (speaking  the 
words  with  strong  emphasis,)  an  unquestionable 
right.  I  can  no  more  surrender  it,  than  I  can 
annihilate  my  own  soul.  If  my  right  of  free 
speech  conflicts  with  your  slavery,  one  or  the 
other  of  them  must  give  way;  and  as  I  claim 
that  my  right  is  absolute,  you  have  but  one 
thing  to  do — take  your  slavery  out  of  the  way." 

"  Yes,'5  said  the  first  speaker,  "  but  the  slaves 
are  our  property,  and  such  language  as  you  are 
using,  endangers  our  rights  to  what  lawfully 
belongs  to  us.  You  have  no  more  right  to  place 
our  property  or  our  safety  at  hazard,  than  we 


FREEDOM    01'    SPEECH.  209 

have  to  place  yours.  But  go  on,  we  '11  hear  you 
out,  and  see  what  you  have  to  say." 

"I  have  but  one  thing  to  say,"  said  the  man, 
speaking  calmly  and  slowly,  "  and  it  is  this ; 
Jesus  Christ  has  said,  '  whatsoever  ye  do  to  one 
of  the  least  of  these  my  disciples,  ye  do  to  me.' 
He  has  promised  on  the  one  hand,  that  he  who 
gives  to  one  of  them  a  cup  of  water,  shall  not 
lose  his  reward;  and  on  the  other,  he  has  threat 
ened  that  whosoever  shall  offend  one  of  them, 
it  were  better  for  him  that  a  millstone  were 
hanged  about  his  neck  and  he  were  cast  into  the 
sea. 

"  He  has  established  it  as  a  principle  of  his 
government,  that  his  disciples,  and  especially 
those  of  them  who  are  poor,  ignorant,  needy,  or 
in  persecution  or  distress,  shall  stand  as  his 
representatives — as  you  treat  them  you  treat  HIM  ; 
and  as  it  would  be  a  sin,  a  blasphemy  to  make 
Jesus  Christ  a  SLAVE,  it  is  also  a  sin  to  make 
slaves  of  his  poor  disciples." 

The  gentleman  then  made  his  way  through 
the  crowd,  and  went  to  his  stateroom. 

Mr.  Scott,  who  was  present,  walked  quickly 
away.  Others  of  the  crowd  sat  clown  at  a  table, 
and  commenced  playing  cards,  Edgar  was  stand 
ing  by  the  side  of  Mr.  Ives  while  this  litle  scene 
was  passing,  and  as  he  turned  to  say  something 


210  BELLE   SCOTT. 

to  him,  saw  that  his  face  was  pale,  and  his  brow 
shadowed  with  deep  thought. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  sir  ?  "  said  Edgar.  "  Are 
you  unwell  ? " 

"  Oh  no,  sir,  not  at  all !  but  that  thought  we 
have  just  heard,  has  startled  me.  It  is,  to  me  at 
least,  a  new  view  of  the  subject." 

They  parted ;  Mr.  Ives  went  into  the  ladies' 
cabin — Edgar,  to  another  part  of  the  boat. 

About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  Edgar  saw 
Mr.  Ives  standing  thoughtfully  alone.  He  rallied 
him  upon  his  gravity.  Mr.  Ives  replied,  "  Indeed 
I  am  serious ;  I  cannot,  even  if  I  wished  to  do  so, 
get  rid  of  the  thought  we  heard  this  morning.  It 
haunts  me  like  an  accompanying  spirit.  I  have 
been  examining  it,  and  tracing  it  in  its  details 
and  results.  I  have  always  thought  that  princi 
ple  in  the  government  of  our  Saviour,  one  of  the 
clearest  proofs  of  his  supernatural  authority  and 
goodness,  that  the  whole  narrative  of  his  life 
affords  us.  If  I  entertained  a  doubt  of  the  truth 
of  the  Christian  religion,  this  principle  would 
remove  that  doubt." 

"Why  so?"  said  Mr.  Reed. 

"  It  was,"  said  Mr.  Ives,  "  comparatively  of  but 
little  value  to  the  disciples  who  lived  with  him. 
As  they  became  identified  with  him,  their  suffer 
ings  increased.  And  so  it  continued,  for  a  century 


a 


MR.    IVES.  21  1 

and  more  after  his  death.  He  must  then  have 
looked  far  into  the  future.  He  knew  that  his 
person  would  be  venerated  and  intensely  loved. 
Tic  intended  to  transfer  this  veneration  to  his 
disciples,  as  a  protection  and  blessing.  Tliu 
piercing  and  accurate  foreknowledge,  proves  him 
divine;  and  this  protection  for  his  disciples, 
proves  him  infinitely  good.  By  this  provision,  he 
has  girdled  the  whole  earth  with  a  blessing,  that 
rests,  at  all  times,  upon  the  most  needy  and  the 
most  deserving." 

"  But  what,"  said  Mr.  Reed,  "  is  there  new  in 
this  matter,  that  it  should  excite  you  ?  I  have 
read  it  a  hundred  times,  and  you  seem  to  be 
familiar  with  it." 

"  There  is  nothing  novel  in  the  principle  ;  it  is 
as  old  as  Christianity,  and  has  been  held  as  a 
doctrine  by  all  churches,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
Christian  system  to  the  present  time.  However 
much  men  may  have  differed  upon  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity,  there  never  has  been,  so  far  as  I 
have  heard,  any  difference  whatever  upon  this 
subject.  It  is  its  application  to  the  negro  race, 
that  has  startled  me.  I  have  lived  with  persons 
of  that  race  all  my  life,  and  have  read  from  infancy 
this  Testament,  and  yet  until  this  day,  the 
thought  has  never  occurred  to  me  that  this  great 
principle  is  applicable  to  them." 


212  BELLE    SCOTT. 

Mr.  Bridgeman,  the  gentleman  who  had  made 
the  remark,  now  came  in  view.  "  Let  us,"  said 
Mr.  Reed,  "  enter  into  conversation  with  him, 
perhaps  he  will  startle  you  again,  by  some  other 
new  application  of  an  old  truth." 

They  went  to  him,  and  alluded  to  what  he  had 
said  in  the  morning.  "I  have,"  he  replied,"  no 
wish  to  annoy  any  one,  by  conversation  on  a 
subject  which  may  be  disagreeable.  My  right  of 
free  speech  was  questioned,  and  I  determined  to 
assert  it  at  the  very  time  and  place,  when  it  was 
disputed.  I  have  said  all  that  I  wish  to  say  on 
that  subject." 

"You  have  said  a  great  deal,"  said  Mr.  Ives. 

Mr.  Bridgeman  looked  at  him  calmly  and  said  : 
"  Yes ;  I  felt  an  impulse  to  say  it,  that  I  thought 
wrong  to  resist ;  and  I  would  have  said  it,  even 
if  I  had  been  thrown  into  the  river  the  next 
moment.  I  hope  it  will  be  received  in  the  same 
spirit  in  which  it  was  made." 

Mr.  Bridgeman  and  Mr.  Ives  looked  at  each 
other  steadily,  after  he  had  spoken,  and  Ives 
again  said  :  "  You  have  said  a  great  deal  sir.  I 
do  not  as  yet  fully  comprehend  it;  it  cannot 
be  done  in  a  day;  but  simple  as  the  thought 
appears,  it  may  change  and  color  my  whole  future 
life," 

Mr.  Bridgeman  said :  "  Yes,  it  may  do  more 


MR.    IVES.  213 

than  that ;  it  may  color  and  control  your  eternal 
life." 

The  boat  rapidly  ascended  the  river.  One 
day  Mr.  Reed  passed  by  Mr.  Ives,  who  was 
sitting  at  a  table  in  the  cabin,  with  a  pen  in  his 
hand,  and  paper  on  which  he  had  been  writing 
lying  before  him. 

"  I  see  sir,"  said  Mr.  Reed  to  him,  "  that  you 
give  yourself  but  little  rest,  even  when  you  are 
traveling." 

"  I  did  not  mean  to  tax  my  brain  with  much 
thought,"  replied  Mr.  Ives ;  "  but  the  remark  made 
by  the  gentleman  several  days  ago,  has  been  so 
strongly  impressed  upon  my  mind,  that  I  cannot 
avoid  tracing  out  uj,on  paper,  the  principle  and 
its  application  to  the  colored  race.  It  seems  to 
me,  that  truth  alone,  has  sufficient  power  to  over 
throw  the  whole  system  of  American  slavery." 

"Slavery  has  existed  in  this  country  two 
hundred  years,  and  it  has  not  yet  done  so," 
replied  Mr.  Reed. 

"  True,  but  the  truths  of  Christianity  have  not 
been  applied  to  slavery  in  the  two  hundred  years, 
otherwise  it  could  not  have  withstood  their  power," 
said  Mr.  Ives. 

One  afternoon,  Mr.  Reed  saw  Mr.  Ives  standing 
on  the  side  of  the  boat  next  to  the  Ohio  shore,  and 
approached  him,  lie  did  not  observe  until  he 


214  BELLE    SCOTT. 

got  near  him,  that  two  ladies  were  with  him, 
Miss  Mary  Scott  and  Belle. 

"  That  is  the  State  of  Ohio,"  said  Mary  to  Mr. 
Ives,  and  then  turning  to  Belle  she  said,  "  you 
know,  of  course,  that  it  is  a  free  state." 

"  I  know  that  Ohio  is  a  free  state,  but  did  not 
know  until  now,  that  the  land  I  am  looking  at,  is 
the  State  of  Ohio." 

She  gave  one  long,  lingering  look,  at  the  land 
before  her.  Her  eyes  filled  with  tears,  and  to 
conceal  them  she  went  into  the  cabin. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 


MR.    AND   MRS.    LEATHERS. 

Two  months  after  the  wedding  of  Bennett 
Leathers,  Colonel  Moore,  a  venerable  gentleman 
long  a  citizen  of  Willoughby,  about  ten  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  cane  in  hand,  was  seen  walking 
composedly  up  the  avenue  that  led  to  the  man 
sion  of  Mrs.  Turn's,  now  Mrs.  Leathers.  His 
portly  person  was  well  dressed,  and  on  his  face 
was  a  calm  benevolent  smile.  He  was,  as  he 
deserved  to  be,  at  peace  with  himself  and  with  all 
the  world. 

Mrs.  Leathers  had  been  his  tenant  since  the 
death  of  Mr.  Tullis.  Three  days  before,  another 
year's  rent  (eight  hundred  dollars)  became  due ; 
but  with  that  delicate  respect  which  becomes  a 
gentleman,  Colonel  Moore  had  deferred  his  call,  to 
avoid  even  the  appearance  of  haste. 

The  shutters  in  the  front  of  the  house  were 
closed,  but  although  the  Colonel  observed  it,  it 
did  not  attract  his  especial  attention.  It  was 
early,  quite  early,  and  as  Mr.  Leathers  was  not 
yet  in  business,  there  was  no  necessity  for  rising 

(215) 


216  BELLE   SCOTT. 

sooner.  His  wife  too  was  rich  ;  time  therefore  was 
of  less  value  to  him  than  it  is  to  some  others  less 
fortunate  in  life. 

He  rang  the  bell,  and  was  surprised  to  find 
that  the  noise  was  so  loud,  from  the  very  gentle 
pull  he  gave  it. 

He  paused,  and  then  turning  round,  buttoned 
his  coat  tighter  around  his  neck,  took  off  his  hat 
and  smoothed  it  with  his  glove. 

No  one  came. 

He  rang  again,  gently  as  he  could,  but  again 
the  sound  was  much  louder  than  he  intended  to 
make. 

He  stood  now  longer  than  before,  and  looked 
upon  that  leafless  shrubbery  in  the  lawn. 

Still  all  was  silent. 

He  rang  again,  harder  than  before,  and  then 
stood  for  a  moment ;  then  he  went  out  upon  the 
pavement  before  the  door.  The  calm,  benevolent 
look  had  left  his  face.  His  cane  was  tucked 
under  his  arm.  Upon  looking  around,  he  saw 
the  shutter  of  a  window  in  the  second  story  of  the 
adjoining  house  partly  opened,  and  a  female's  face 
looking  out. 

He  raised  his  eyes  and  hat  to  the  lady.  "  Your 
neighbors  are  late  risers,  madam  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  know  that  sir,  I  think  they  are  all 
awake." 


MR.    AND   MRS.    LEATHERS.  217 

"'1  have  rung  the  bell  three  times,  madam,  and 
no  person  has  yet  answered  my  call." 

"  A  very  good  reason  for  that,  sir,  they  have 
all  moved  away." 

"  Moved,  madam  !  moved  away !  "  said  Colonel 
Moore,  striking  the  end  of  his  cane  upon  the 
pavement.  '•'  They  gave  me  no  notice  of  their  in 
tention  to  do  so.  When  did  they  move,  madam  ?" 

"I  really  don't  know  sir.  They  were  here  a 
week  ago  to-morrow,  I  am  sure ;  the  next  day  the 
house  was  still,  and  I  have  not  seen  them  since." 

"  What,  madam !  run  away  ?  " 

"  I  can't  say  that,  sir.  I  have  told  you  all 
that  I  know." 

'•  I  '11  follow  them  to  the  ends  of  the  earth ! " 
striking  the  end  of  his  cane  hard  on  the  pavement. 

"  I  think,  sir,  that  is  as  good  a  place  as  any 
other,  to  search  for  them." 

"  Did  you  observe  them  making  any  prepara 
tions  to  go  offj  madam  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir.  They  were  sending  their  fine  furni 
ture  out  by  the  alley  to  a  vessel  at  the  wharf,  for 
four  or  five  days  before  they  went  away." 

"  What  induced  them  to  go,  madam  ?  Mrs. 
Leathers  had  a  large  fortune." 

"I  do  not  know,  sir.  I  heard  Mr.  Leathers 
say,  it  was  wrong  for  a  gentleman  to  squander 
his  wife's  fortune,  in  payment  of  her  debts :  and 


218  BELLE    SCOTT. 

they  have  been  a  good  deal  troubled  with  bills 
lately." 

And  now,  good  reader,  we  ask  you  to  mark  with 
what  frankness  we  state  this  fault  of  Mr.  Leathers. 
Biographers  sometimes  draw  a  vail  over  blemishes 
in  the  conduct  of  their  heroes :  but  this  we  shall 
not  do.  The  practice  is  a  bad  one.  The  reader 
cannot  mark  the  growth  of  the  inner  life  of  the 
person  whose  character  he  may  be  carefully  study 
ing;  he  cannot  note  as  he  should,  the  upward  or 
downward  course,  unless  he  is  furnished,  at  least, 
with  the  leading  facts,  that  are  steps  upon  the 
ladder  of  ascent  or  descent.  But  as  we  have 
stated  this  fact,  it  is  but  fair  to  Mr.  Leathers  and 
his  friends,  that  we  state  also  the  circumstances 
that  accompanied  it. 

A  month  had  hardly  passed  after  his  marriage, 
before  Mr.  Leathers  was  called  to  the  door  to  re 
ceive  a  bill.  Bills  from  the  jeweler ;  bills  from  the 
milliner ;  bills  from  half-a-dozen  dressmakers ;  bills 
from  the  grocer ;  bills  from  the  confectioner ;  bills 
from  the  baker ;  bills  from  the  dentist ;  bills  from 
the  doctor ;  bills  from  the  lawyer ;  bills  for  pew 
rent ;  for  water-rent ;  from  everybody,  and  for 
everything. 

Mr.  Leathers,  of  course,  knew  nothing  about 
them.  They  were  referred  to  his  wife,  and  that 
amiable  lady  declared  that  each  one  of  them  was 


MR.   AND    MRS.   LEATHERS.  219 

wrong ;  some  of  them  she  said,  were  for  articles 
that  she  had  never  ordered,  others  for  articles  she 
had  ordered,  but  never  received ;  some,  she  said, 
she  had  paid ;  others  were  too  high — none  too  low. 

It  seemed  as  if  every  man  in  Willoughby  was 
dishonestly  trying  to  ruin  Mrs.  Leathers. 

When  the  first  bills  came,  Mr.  Leathers  paid 
them  promptly,  and  said  to  his  wife,  "  It's  better- 
much  better  to  do  so,  my  dear,  than  to  be  annoyed 
with  these  kind  of  people."  The  lady  was  silent, 
but  not  satisfied.  The  payment  of  one  bill,  how 
ever,  seemed  to  be  as  one  blow  upon  a  hornet's 
nest.  The  whole  swarm  was  out  buzzing  about 
him  and  stinging  him.  lie  continued  to  pay,  till 
one  day  Mrs.  Leathers  gently  remarked,  "It  is 
much  easier  to  waste  money,  my  dear,  than  to 
earn  it." 

"  A  very  profound  observation,  my  dear,  and  it 
does  great  credit  to  your  intellect,"  said  Mr. 
Leathers.  "Indeed  it  does.  But  what  shall  I 
do  ?  they  will  warrant  me  if  I  don't  pay. " 

"Let  them  warrant,"  said  Mrs.  Leathers.  And 
the  warrants  came  thick  and  fast, 

Mr.  Leathers  defended  the  suits,  and  found  to 
his  surprise,  that  from  some  cause  all  the  magis 
trates  and  courts  were  prejudiced  against  him. 
He  thought,  perhaps,  that  it  was  because  he  had 
married  a  merchant's  widow.  (He  could  not  say 


220  BELLE    SCOTT. 

negro  merchant,  the  word  stuck  in  his  throat.)  He 
had  lost  his  position,  and  hence  was  persecuted. 
He  abandoned  further  defenses  in  despair;  and 
said  to  his  wife :  "  I  see,  my  dear  Martha,  that 
Willoughby  is  no  place  for  us.  Let  us  go  where 
we  can  enjoy  our  own  in  peace.  I  cannot  stand 
by  and  see  a  dear,  confiding  wife  robbed  ;  robbed 
before  my  face  under  the  forms  of  law ;  robbed,  my 
dear,  with  impunity !  It  does  not  become  a  gen 
tleman  to  do  so." 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 


THE    ESCAPE. 


THE  boat  had  passed  Cincinnati,  and  was  rapidly 
approaching  Guyandotte,  where  Mr.  Scott  and  his 
party  were  to  land.  It  stopped,  for  some  purpose, 
on  the  Ohio  shore.  Edgar  was  reading  in  the 
cabin,  when  he  observed  an  unusual  excitement 
among  the  people  on  board ;  men  were  running 
to  and  fro,  and  women  looked  alarmed,  as  if  some 
great  calamity  had  happened.  He  was  told  that 
some  slaves  had  escaped  from  the  boat.  Parties 
were  set  ashore  to  hunt  the  fugitives.  After  an 
absence  of  an  hour,  a  shout  was  raised,  and  Edgar 
saw  with  horror  two  men  dragging  Belle  to  the  boat. 
Another  woman  came  sulkily  along  with  her  cap 
tors.  Belle  looked  the  very  image  of  despair; 
her  eyes  were  swollen ;  her  face  pale  as  ashes ; 
her  limbs  all  trembling,  so  as  scarcely  to  support 
her.  But  before  they  reached  the  boat,  another 
party  came  forward  and  asserted  that  the  captors 
had  no  right  to  take  the  fugitives  (even  if  they 
were  such)  from  the  state,  unless  an  examination 
was  first  had  before  a  commissioner,  and  his 

19  (221) 


222  BELLI;  SCOTT. 

certificate  obtained  to  authorize  them  to  do  so. 
After  much  altercation,  this  claim  was  acceded  to. 
A  commissioner  lived  in  the  village,  his  warrant 
was  signed,  and  the  case  was  set  down  for  hearing. 

Mr.  Williams,  the  commissioner,  was  apparent 
ly  about  thirty  years  of  age,  a  member  of  the 
legal  profession,  whose  talents,  from  his  modesty., 
were  not  yet  so  far  appreciated  as  to  afford  him 
a  living  practice.  Hence  it  was  that  he  was  willing 
to  accept  an  office  which,  though  humble,  yielded 
him  once  in  a  great  while  five  or  ten  dollars,  as 
the  case  might  be. 

The  alleged  fugitives  were  brought  into  the 
court,  and  the  commissioner,  seated  on  the  bench, 
commanded  an  officer  in  a  rather  supplicating  tone, 
and  with  a  familiar  look,  to  provide  seats  for  the 
crowd  that  thronged  the  hall  of  justice. 

A  citizen  requested,  on  behalf  of  the  alleged 
fugitives,  that  the  proceedings  should  be  delayed 
for  a  short  time,  till  they  could  find  an  attorney 
who  would  attend  to  the  case.  This  delay  was 
granted  with  a  condescending  smile  and  wave  of 
the  hand,  which  seemed  designed  to  impress  upon 
all,  that  the  commissioner  was  at  heart  a  most 
gracious  and  benevolent  gentleman. 

After  a  short  time  they  returned  accompanied 
by  John  Peters,  Esq.,  an  attorney  of  the  village, 
who  stated  that  he  had  been  retained  for  Belle  and 


THE    ESCAPE.  223 

the  woman  Katy,  and-  would  soon  be  ready  for 
the  trial. 

Mr.  Ives  went  into  the  court-house,  to  which 
they  had  taken  the  captives.  It  seemed  as  if  the 
light  of  hope  had  fled  from  Belle  forever.  Her 
lace  was  pale,  and  her  eyes  fixed  as  in  death.  At 
first  she  did  not  observe  Mr.  Ives,  but  looked 
with  a  vacant  stare  round  the  room ;  then,  as  if 
she  was  slowly  recovering  her  consciousness,  she 
looked  steadily  at  him.  He  went  up  and  spoke 
to  her  soothingly  and  kindly.  In  an  instant  the 
fountain  of  her  tears  was  unsealed,  and  she 
wept,  and  groaned  aloud.  All  were  silent  specta 
tors  of  her  grief;  even  the  rude  men  who  had 
arrested  her,  seemed  awed,  in  the  presence  of  her 
overwhelming  sorrow.  She  said,  "  Oh  Mr.  Ives, 
do  help  me !  I  am  here  among  strangers,  except 
Mr.  Scott  and  his  friends,  and  they,  you  know,  are 
trying  to  take  me  back  into  slavery.  You  are 
the  only  person  on  earth,  to  whom  I  can  look 
with  confidence  for  help." 

Mr.  Ives  turned  pale,  and  then  in  a  low  voice, 
so  that  none  but  Belle  could  hear  him,  said :  "Do 
you  not  know,  Belle,  that  if  I  take  your  part  in 
this  controversy,  it  will  utterly  ruin  me." 

"  I  know  that  you  are  engaged  to  Miss  Mary, 
at  least  I  have  no  doubt  of  it,  but  she  cannot  be 
angry  with  you  for  standing  by  me  in  an  hour  of 


224  BELLE   SCOTT. 

affliction,  and  doing  all  that  you  honestly  can  do, 
to  aid  me.  Oh,  Mr.  Ives !  I  feel  in  my  heart 
of  hearts,  that  I  have  the  right  to  be  free. 
I  have  always  had  an  undefined,  but  strong 
impression  that  I  was  born  free,  and  have  in 
some  way  that  I  cannot  account  for,  been  wrong 
fully  deprived  of  my  liberty." 

"All  slaves  have  such  impressions,  I  believe," 
replied  Mr.  Ives. 

"  That  may  be  so,  but  I  believe,  I  am  of  right  free. 
I  had  rather  die,  (.ban  go  back  into  slavery.  I  had 
rather  be  blown  into  powder  fine  as  snow,  than 
be  taken  across  that  river,"  pointing  to  the  Ohio. 

"  Belle,  I  am  sorry  for  you,  but  if  I  do  under 
take  your  defense  in  this  case,  it  will  work  in  an 
instant  the  utter  ruin  of  all  niy  hopes  of  honor, 
wealth,  and  happiness  in  this  life.  I  would  ever 
thereafter,  be  an  exile  from  the  state  of  my  birth, 
and  the  graves  of  my  fathers.  And  I  will  have 
to  begin  life  anew,  among  people  whose  customs, 
thoughts,  and  feelings  are  widely  different  from 
my  own ;  you  know  too,  that  Mr.  Scott  never 
forgives." 

"  Oh  !  I  know  it  all,  Mr.  Ives.  I  would  not 
ask  you,  if  more  than  my  life  did  not  depend 
upon  your  aid.  You  can  save  me.  Oh,  for 
Christ's  sake,  do  so  !  " 

Mr.  Ives  reeled  at  the  word,  as  if  he  had  been 


THE    CAPTIVES.  225 

struck  a  heavy  blow.  "  I  would  not  do  it  for  any 
fee,  nor  for  all  the  honors  of  earth,  for  I  know 
that  it  will  blast  my  hopes  of  happiness,  at  the 
very  place  where  those  hopes  are  garnered ;  but  I 
will  do  it  for  the  sake  of  Christ." 

Mr.  Ives  took  Mr.  Peters  aside,  and  informed 
him,  that  he  would  aid  him  in  the  defense  of  Belle. 
He  also  told  Mr.  Scott,  that  he  would  do  so. 

"  What,  sir !  you  who  have  been  my  legal  ad 
viser  for  years,  you  turn  against  me  ?  I  did  not 
expect  this  from  you." 

"  Nor  did  I  expect  it.  I  regret  that  it  is  my 
duty,  to  take  her  side  of  the  case,  and  apparently 
to  disoblige  you ;  but  I  have  determined  to  do 
so,  sir,"  laying  strong  emphasis  on  the  word 
determined. 

"  Very  well,  sir.  Your  determinations  are  of 
course,  in  your  own  power.  I  cannot  but  regret 
your  course,  as  it  will  deprive  myself  and  all  the 
members  of  my  family,  from  ever  again  enjoying 
the  great  pleasure  we  have  so  often  had  in  your 
society." 

"  You,  sir,  and  the  members  of  your  family, 
will  of  course  be  controlled  by  your  own  views  of 
propriety,"  replied  Mr.  Ives,  "  and  whatever  may 
be  your  future  conduct  toward  me,  I  shall  always 
look  back  upon  the  hours  I  have  passed  under 
your  roof,  with  gratitude  and  pleasure." 


226  BELLE   SCOTT. 

"  Good  evening,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Scott ;  "  of  course 
you  will  not  accompany  us  to  Richmond." 

"  Certainly  not,  sir.     Adieu." 

Mr.  Ives  stated  to  the  commissioner,  that  he 
could  not  be  ready  to  argue  the  case  until  the 
next  day:  it  was  postponed  the  more  readily, 
because  Mr.  Scott  had  not  yet  had  time  to  employ 
a  lawyer.  Belle  and  her  fellow  fugitive  were 
ordered  to  jail,  and  the  boat  went  on  her  way. 
Mr.  Scott  remained  to  attend  the  trial,  with  a 
Mr.  Watts,  who  had  been  for  many  years  an  over 
seer  of  Mr.  Scott's,  and  who  was  needed  as  a 
witness. 

At  nine  o'clock  the  next  morning,  the  alleged 
fugitives  were  again  brought  into  the  court,  now 
closely  crowded  by  people  from  the  village,  and 
the  surrounding  country.  All  of  the  spectators 
seemed  to  take  a  lively  interest  in  the  case. 

Poor  Belle  looked  haggard  and  care-worn.  Her 
depression  of  spirits  had  greatly  increased.  Her 
manner,  however,  was  more  composed  than  it  had 
been  the  day  before.  Sad  as  she  was,  she  had 
still  found  time  to  bestow  a  little  attention  upon 
her  toilet,  and  when  seated  by  the  side  of  her 
sable  companion  in  suffering,  every  eye  was  fixed 
in  admiration  upon  her. 

The  commissioner,  with  great  apparent  dignity, 
asked  the  parties  if  they  were  ready,  and  upon 


THE    CAPTIVES.  227 

being  answered  that  they  were,  he  directed  Mr. 
Scott  to  call  his  witnesses. 

Mr.  Scott  proved  by  his  overseer,  that  he  had 
had  possession  of  the  girl  Belle  since  she  was  about 
six  years  old,  and  that  he  saw  a  bill  of  sale  for  her 
in  Mr.  Scott's  possession  about  sixteen  years  be 
fore,  and  soon  after  the  girl  canie  to  his  plantation. 

Witnesses  were  then  called,  who  stated  that  the 
girl  Belle  was  on  the  boat  when  it  landed  at  the 
village;  that  she  left  it  before  night,  and  upon 
search  being  made,  was  found  with  the  other 
women,  hid  in  some  bushes  near  the  village. 
That  when  her  captors  approached  her,  she  en 
deavored  to  run,  and  when  overtaken,  exclaimed, 
'•  Oh !  I  had  rather  die,  than  live  a  day  longer 
as  a  slave.  Kill  me  if  you  please,  rather  than 
carry  me  back  into  bondage/1 

The  claimant  here  said  he  had  no  further  evi 
dence,  and  the  defendant  being  called  upon,  Mr. 
Ives  informed  the  court  that  in  his  judgment  no 
evidence  was  needed  for  the  defendant,  but  that 
if  it  was,  they  had  none  to  produce. 

Mr.  Scott  had  employed  an  attorney,  Mr. 
Weston.  Mr.  Weston  read  the  sections  of  the 
law  of  1850,  upon  which  he  relied,  and  stated  that 
the  evidence  in  the  case,  seemed  to  make  it  too 
plain  for  argument,  and  therefore  he  would  sub 
mit  the  case  to  the  judgment  of  the  commissioner. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 


MARY    SCOTT. 


OUR  lady  readers  wish,  of  course,  to  know  as 
soon  as  possible,  the  views  of  Mary  Scott  respect 
ing  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Ives.  and  we  must  antici 
pate  a  little  the  course  of  events,  to  inform  them. 

Mary  Scott  went  on  with  some  friends  to  Wil- 
loughby,  leaving  her  father  to  attend  to  the  law 
suit. 

Mr.  Ives,  upon  whom  she  had  placed  all  her 
hopes  of  happiness  in  this  life,  had  been  forbid 
den  to  see  her.  She  could  but  obey  the  com 
mand  of  her  father.  Her  own  heart,  too,  con 
demned  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Ives.  Did  he  not 
know  the  principles  of  her  father  ?  What  freak 
of  folly  was  it  that  led  him,  in  a  rash  moment,  to 
take  the  side  of  Belle  ?  True,  he  was  a  lawyer, 
and  could,  of  course,  take  either  side  of  a  cause, 
and  urge  whatever  arguments  might  suggest  them 
selves  to  his  mind,  with  all  the  force  he  could  on 
behalf  of  his  client;  but  still  there  are  limits, 
even  to  professional  license  ;  and  it  seemed  to  her 
that  Mr.  Ives  had,  in  this  instance  at  least,  passed 

(228) 


MARY   SCOTT.  229 

those  limits.  She  had  not  heard  his  argument, 
but  had  been  told  by  those  who  did  hear  it, 
that  it  was  a  tissue  of  rabid  fanaticism — it  was 
worse  even  than  that — it  went  to  the  very  verge 
of  treason,  and  if  true  would  dissolve  this  Union, 
and  tend  at  least,  to  deluge  our  land  with  blood. 
Could  he,  so  mild  and  quiet  a  gentleman,  not  used 
to  excitement,  of  sober  judgment  and  good  sense, 
be  recklessly  guilty  of  all,  these  wrongs  in  behalf 
of  a  servant,  that  the  whim  of  that  servant  might 
be  gratified,  in  her  wish  to  leave  the  only  friends 
she  had  on  earth,  and  venture  alone  and  uncared 
for  among  utter  strangers  ?  And  then  it  seemed 
to  her,  that  he  might,  at  least,  have  consulted  her 
views,  upon  a  matter  so  momentous  in  its  results 
to  both  of  them.  Why  could  not  others  have  been 
employed  in  his  stead  ?  It  would  have  been  far 
better,  she  thought,  if  Mr.  Ives  had  paid  four  or 
five  lawyers  from  his  own  money  to  defend  Belle, 
than  that  he  should  have  done  so  himself.  They 
could  have  defended  her,  and  secured  all  her  rights, 
and  he  would  have  avoided  the  difficulties  that 
his  rashness  had  brought  upon  his  affianced  and 
himself;  would  have  avoided  the  displeasure  of 
her  father,  and  all  the  consequences  that  re 
sulted  from  it. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  he  had  cut  himself  off 
from  all  hope  of  preferment  in  life ;  who  now  would 


230  BELLE   SCOTT. 

vote  for  him  to  fill  any  office  of  honor  ?  who  now 
would  retain  him  as  an  advocate  ?  who  now  could 
trust  a  gentleman  who  had,  apparently  in  a  moment, 
renounced  the  principles  in  which  he  had  been 
educated,  and  who  cared  so  little  for  the  opinions 
of  his  friends,  as  to  set  them  at  defiance. 

But  in  the  midst  of  all  these  upbraidings  her 
heart  still  took  the  side  of  Henry  Ives.  She  had 
known  him  from  his  childhood,  and  always  knew 
him  truthful  and  firm  to  his  convictions  of  right. 
She  knew  that  he  scorned  duplicity,  and  made  it 
a  maxim  in  his  professional  life,  never  to  misre 
present  either  the  facts  or  the  law  of  any  case  to 
save  even  the  life  of  his  client.  Could  it  be  that 
he  was  sincere  in  his  new  views  ? 

Could  he  be  otherwise  than  sincere  ?  What 
motive  had  he  to  do  wrong  in  it?  He  labored 
without  hope  of  reward,  for  one  of  the  humblest 
of  the  human  race  ;  labored  against  prejudice  and 
power ;  against  the  known  opinions  of  his  relations 
and  friends,  and  all  the  opinions  of  his  former  life. 

Was  he  really  a  fanatic  ?  that  thought  was  far 
more  dreadful  to  her,  than  if  she  believed  him  to 
be  insincere.  If  it  was  fanaticism,  what  had 
produced  it?  and  what  remedy  lay  within  her 
power  by  means  of  which  she  could  reclaim  him 
from  his  folly? 

She   was  now    alone    in    Willoughby,    with    a 


MARY    SCOTT.  231 

large  estate  that  would,  at  her  father's  death,  be 
hers,  which  she  would  be  unable  to  manage.  She 
knew  that  her  fortune  was  not  the  attraction  that 
had  drawn  him ;  other  fortunes,  greater  than  hers, 
had  crossed  his  path,  and  would  gladly  have  won 
his  attention,  but  their  beautiful  possessors  had 
received  nothing  but  politeness  from  Henry  Ives. 
With  all  her  wealth  she  was  unhappy,  and  would 
gladly  have  resigned  it  for  the  moments  of  quiet 
joy  she  had  felt  in  the  society  of  her  lover. 

Why,  if  he  still  loved  her,  had  no  letter  been 
received  from  him  ?  He  might  have  written 
without  compromising  his  self-respect.  Indeed  it 
seemed  to  her,  that  it  was  his  duty  to  write. 

One  day  while  seated  alone  in  her  room,  a  card 
was  brought  to  her,  and  on  it  "  Henry  Ives,"  and 
below  in  pencil  "  at  the  Pocahontas  House — very 
ill,  but  recovering  from  a  serious  attack  of  brain 
fever."  Her  eyes  filled  as  she  read  it  again  and 
again,  and  placed  it  carefully  in  her  drawer ;  and 
then  sat  down,  and  again  took  it,  and  read  it  over 
and  over,  till  every  word  and  letter  was  written 
upon  her  memory :  again  she  put  it  away,  and 
asain,  and  still  airain  she  took  and  read  it. 

o          t  c_> 

What  could  she  do  ?  Go  to  his  hotel  and  see 
him  ?  propriety  and  self-respect  forbade  it ;  the 
command  of  her  wronged  father  forbade  it.  She 
sat  down,  and  thought  and  wept,  and  again  read 


232  BELLE   SCOTT. 

his  card,  "very  ill."  He  cannot  corne  to  mt 
He  is  sick,  and  a  stranger,  and  alone,  and  perhaps 
uncared  for.  What  brought  him  to  this  city  ? 
When  did  he  come  ?  "  Brain  fever !  "  and  again 
she  mused  and  wept ;  and  then  as  if  half  uncon 
scious,  she  carefully  made  her  toilet — hastily 
and  carefully — and  again  read,  "very  ill,"  and 
was  on  her  way  alone  to  the  hotel.  She  was  soon 
at  his  side,  as  he  lay  pale  upon  a  sofa,  their  hands 
grasped,  and  all — all  in  an  instant  was  forgotten 
and  forgiven.  He  was  no  longer  a  stranger  and 
uncared  for,  for  one  watched  over  him,  whose 
pure  affection  was  full  of  health  and  life. 

Mary  learned  from  Mr.  Ives,  that  after  he  had 
separated  from  her  father,  he  visited  a  northern 
city,  wandering  restlessly  and  unhappily  among 
crowds  of  persons,  all  of  whom  were  strangers,  and 
among  scenes  in  which  he  took  no  interest,  as 
there  was  no  one  to  sympathize  with  him.  Every 
day  increased  his  unhappiness,  and  time  rested 
heavily  as  a  great  burden  upon  him.  He  seemed 
to  have  cut  himself  off  from  the  sympathies  of  his 
race.  At  home,  all  would  denounce  him  as  a 
traitor;  and  one.,  too,  whose  treason  was  of  no 
common  dye.  He  might  have  killed  a  fellow-man 
in  a  duel,  and  been  forgiven,  and  even  elected  to 
posts  of  high  honor,  the  highest  in  the  United 
States;  he  might  have  planned  and  conducted  an 


MARY    SCOTT.  233 

expedition  to  carry  war  into  a  neighboring  country 
at  peace  with  ours ;  he  might  have  trodden  under 
foot  part  of  the  most  valuable  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States ;  he  might  have 
denied  that  the  Bible  is  a  revelation  from  God, 
and  thus  as  far  as  he  could  do  so,  have  overthrown 
the  only  true  system  of  religion  on  earth,  and 
destroyed  the  foundations  of  private  and  public 
virtue;  he  might  have  gone  much  farther,  and 
denied  even  the  very  existence  of  God  himself — 
and  been  forgiven.  But  for  denying  the  dogma, 
that  man  may  have  property  in  his  brother  man — 
there  is  no  forgiveness.  The  pulpit  and  the  grog 
shop  ;  the  banker  and  the  gambler;  the  judge  upon 
the  bench  and  the  thief  on  trial  before  him,  would  all 
unite  with  one  voice  and  denounce  him  ;  each  echo 
ing  and  re-echoing  the  other,  with  varied  degrees  of 
intensity;  but  all — all  with  the  same  bitterness 
of  feeling — the  same  detestation  for  him. 

The  friends,  too,  of  his  early  childhood,  the 
schoolboys  (now  men),  with  whom  he  had  gathered 
wild  fruits,  and  roamed  on  many  a  boyish  excur 
sion,  who  had  been  proud  of  him  in  after  life,  they 
too,  with  all  the  rest,  would  pity  and  condemn 
him.  And  beyond  all  this,  the  one  whose  image 
was  ever  blended  with  all  his  dreams  of  home  and 
happiness  in  life — she  who,  when  he  thought  of  a 
white  cottage,  seated  amid  orange-groves  and  roses 


234  BELLE   SCOTT. 

ever  blooming,  and  shaded  by  great  trees — she, 
whom  he  pictured  standing  at  the  door  to  welcome 
his  return ;  oh !  all  was  over  now ;  nothing  but  a 
wild  and  dreary  desert  lay  outstretched  before 
him,  upon  whose  hot  sands  a  noonday  sun  was 
ever  burning,  and  the  few  footprints  upon  it  were 
filled  with  the  blood  of  the  pale  wretches  that 
wandered  hopelessly  over  it. 

And  what  had  he  done  to  merit  all  this.  He 
had  believed  from  his  childhood,  for  he  had  always 
been  taught  it  by  his  parents,  and  at  school  and 
at  college,  and  from  the  press,  and  from  the  pulpit, 
and  everywhere,  and  from  every  source  of  instruc 
tion — that  it  is  the  right  of  every  American  citizen 
to  read,  and  to  believe  and  to  obey  the  whole 
Bible.  He  had  read  it,  he  believed  it ;  he  with 
faltering  footsteps  had  tried  to  obey  it ;  he  had 
opened  his  mouth  for  the  dumb,  and  pleaded  the 
cause  of  those  who  had  none  to  help.  He  had 
been  a  friend  to  the  poor  and  needy  in  the  hour 
of  trial  and  of  peril ;  he  had,  as  for  Christ,  taken 
the  part  of  one  of  his  disciples,  and  endeavored  to 
rescue  the  Constitution  of  his  country  from  the 
glosses  put  upon  it,  to  make  good  men  hate  and 
abhor  it;  he  had  endeavored,  at  least,  to  show 
that  that  Constitution  was  the  ally  and  the  friend, 
and  not  the  foe  of  Christianity ;  that  it  was  worthy 
of  the  patriots  who  framed,  and  worth  all  the  toil, 


MARY    SCOTT.  235 

and  suffering,  and  sacrifice  and  blood  shed  in  the 
revolution,  of  which  it  was  the  first  and  best  fruits. 

He  had  tried,  at  least,  to  prove  that  man,  how 
ever  degraded,  ignorant,  or  debased  he  may  be, 
is  still  too  noble,  too  great,  too  glorious  a  being 
to  be  classed  with  beasts.  And  for  this — only 
this — he  was  cut  off  from  all  hopes  of  wealth 
or  honor,  from  happiness,  from  home.  "  The  sky 
above  him  was  brass,  and  the  earth  beneath  him 
iron."  The  very  atmosphere  he  breathed  seemed 
hot,  and  thick,  and  stifling.  Are  these  thy  rewards, 
Oh,  Liberty !  are  these  the  garlands  with  which 
thy  followers  are  crowned  ! 

He  thought  still  deeper.  He  had  advanced  no 
new  doctrine,  he  had  invented  no  truth,  but  had 
applied  an  old  and  familiar  one  to  a  new  subject. 
He  had  not  made  the  fire,  but  had  only  taken  a 
coal  from  an  altar,  and  applied  it  to  materials 
prepared  before  him.  The  beauty  of  the  blaze, 
the  heat  of  the  flame  were  from  God.  He  saw  then 
where  the  hatred  really  attached ;  not  to  him  but 
to  Christ ;  and  now  he  felt  that  Christ,  when  in 
the  world,  must  of  necessity,  have  worn  a  crown 
of  thorns.  The  light  was  hated,  and  the  humble 
man  who  held  the  lamp  ;  the  truth  was  hated,  and 
the  lips  that  uttered  it.  But  he  knew  that  that 
light,  and  that  truth  were  from  Heaven ;  that 
they  descended  together  from  the  throne  of  God. 


236  BELLE   SCOTT. 

He  knew,  too,  that  although  its  rays  are  but 
shooting  through  the  darkness,  like  pencilings 
of  early  dawn,  the  hour  will  come  when  it  will  fill 
our  atmosphere — wrap  the  whole  globe,  and  rest 
upon  it  with  unnumbered  blessings.  And  he  be 
came  calm  and  hopeful,  and  waited  patiently,  for 
surely  as  God  lives  and  reigns,  his  law  will  conquer, 
Unable  to  support  his  great  grief  alone,  he 
started  for  Willoughby,  but  on  his  way  was  taken 
sick,  so  sick  that  he  could  with  difficulty  keep  his 
seat  in  the  cars  till  he  reached  the  place.  He  was 
taken  to  the  hotel — brain  fever  followed ;  but 
now  he  was  better,  happier — how  could  he  be 
otherwise  under  such  care  as  recently  he  had 
received.  Mary,  too,  was  glad  that  the  presence 
of  a  friend  was  of  so  great  service. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 


MR.    IVES     SPEECH. 

WE  shall  give  extracts  only,  from  the  speech 
of  Mr.  Ives. 

"It  is  necessary  that  I  call  your  attention 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  binding 
alike  upon  all  of  us ;  and  which  all  of  us  are  under 
the  highest  obligations  to  support." 

He  then  read  from  the  Constitution :  "  .No 
person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  state,  under 
the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall, 
in  consequence  of  any  law  or  regulation  therein, 
be  discharged  from  such  service  or  labor ;  but  shall 
be  delivered  up,  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom 
such  service  or  labor  may  be  due." 

I  admit  that  this  clause  was  intended,  by 
those  who  framed  the  Constitution,  to  apply  to 
slaves.  If  it  does  not  apply  to  slaves,  for  what 
purpose  was  it  placed  here  ?  Why,  in  so  solemn  an 
instrument,  should  the  Convention  have  descended 
to  the  detail  of  providing  for  the  reclamation  of 
apprentices,  and  perhaps  a  few  other  persons,  escap 
ing  from  those  to  whom  their  labor  might  be  due  ? 

20  (237) 


238  BELLE   SCOTT. 

This  clause  is  to  be  interpreted  by  the  same 
rules  that  are  applied  to  all  other  parts  of  this 
instrument,  and  to  treaties,  and  to  laws.  All  of 
these  rules  may  be  summed  up  in  a  single 
sentence,  and  that  is,  that  you  are,  with  a  fair  and 
honest  mind,  from  all  the  evidence  you  can 
obtain,  both  within  and  without  the  instrument, 
to  ascertain  the  very  mind  of  those  who  wrote, 
and  who  adopted  it,  so  as  to  carry  into  effect  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  written  and  adopted. 
You  are,  if  the  cause  is  of  doubtful  meaning,  to 
look  to  the  debates  in  the  Convention  upon  it ;  to 
the  reports  of  the  committees ;  to  the  debates  in 
the  Conventions  of  the  several  states,  and  to  the 
essays  written  for  popular  consideration,  at  the 
time  it  was  submitted  to  the  people  for  their 
suffrages.  The  uniform  practice  of  the  several 
departments  of  the  government,  from  the  time  it 
was  adopted  till  the  present,  is  also  a  matter  of 
great  weight,  that  by  no  means  should  be  over 
looked. 

But  this  clause  is  not  the  whole  Constitu 
tion.  That  instrument,  from  abundant  caution,  was 
amended  after  it  was  adopted.  The  object  of  the 
amendments,  was  to  guarantee  the  rights,  and 
secure  beyond  doubt,  the  civil,  political,  and  above 
all,  the  religious  liberties  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  These  rights  and  liberties  were 


MR.    IVES'    SPEECH.  239 

too  dear — had  cost  too  much  blood,  and  were  so 
essential  to  the  happiness  of  mankind,  that  the 
people  determined  by  these  amendments  to  secure 
them.  They  were  jealous  of  power  in  the  hands 
of  fallible  men.  The  history  of  our  own  country 
showed  that  power  may  be  abused,  to  the 
extent  even  of  invading  liberty  of  conscience,  and 
the  right  to  worship  God  according  to  its  dic 
tates.  They  formed  the  Constitution,  to  secure, 
among  other  things,  the  blessings  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty  to  themselves  and  their  posterity. 
They  amended  it,  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure. 

The  first  of  these  amendments  provides,  "  Con 
gress  shall  make  no  laiv  respecting  an  establish 
ment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise 
thereof,  or  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of 
the  press,  or  the  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to 
assemble,  and  to  petition  the  government  for  a 
redress  of  grievances." 

This  clause,  too,  must  be  so  interpreted,  as  to 
carry  into  full  effect  the  very  minds  of  those  who 
wrote,  and  who  adopted  it ;  and  to  secure  to  the 
uttermost  extent,  the  several  rights  enumerated. 

Congress  then  can  make  no  law  "prohibiting 
the  free  exercise  of  religion."  No  one  ever 
doubted,  that  the  free  exercise  of  the  Christian 
religion  was  intended  to  be  protected  and  secured 
by  this  amendment.  That  religion  was,  in  its 


240  BELLE   SCOTT. 

different  divisions,  almost  the  only  one  professed 
by  the  people  of  the  United  States. 

The  whole  people  of  the  United  States,  at  the 
time  they  adopted  this  amendment,  intended  to 
secure  to  each  man  in  the  Union,  the  right  to 
believe  in  God,  and  to  obey  him;  the  right  to 
read  the  whole  Bible,  and  to  obey  every  com 
mandment  in  it ;  and  from  the  day  that  it  was 
adopted  down  to  this  hour,  every  citizen  of  the 
United  States  has  claimed  this  right 

This  cotemporaneous,  and  uniform,  and  uni 
versal  construction  of  this  amendment,  cannot  be 
wrong. 

By  the  word  "  FREE,"  they  meant  the  unlimited 
exercise  of  religious  freedom. 

What  is  the  free  exercise  of  the  Christian 
religion  ? 

Christ  himself,  has  informed  us :  That  it  is  to 
love  God  with  all  the  heart,  and  mind,  and  soul, 
and  strength  ;  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On 
these  two  commandments,  hang  all  the  law  and 
the  prophets. 

The  highest  exercise  of  the  Christian  religion 
is  to  obey  God. 

Christ  says,  "  Why  call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord,  and 
DO  not  the  things  that  I  say  ?  " 

The  inquiry  then  is,  do  the  acts  of  1793,  and 
1850,  forbid  any  man  to  do  anything  that  the 


MB.    IVES'    SPEECH.  241 

Christian  religion  enjoins  upon  him  ?  or,  command 
him  to  do  anything  that  Christianity  forbids  ? 
For  if  they  either  forbid  or  command  any  act 
inconsistent  with  loving  God  with  the  whole  heart, 
and  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  they  are  contrary 
to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  amendment, 
and  are  nullities.  And  if  so,  it  is  the  duty  of 
every  man  in  the  United  States,  and  especially 
of  those  who  have  sworn  to  support  the  Con 
stitution;  to  maintain  it,  by  insisting,  both  by 
example  and  precept,  that  the  laws  which  are 
opposed  to  it  are  void  ;  were  so  from  the  instant 
they  were  framed. 

I  know  that  it  is  often  said  that  the  Constitution 
was  never  intended  to  be  applied  to  slaves.  It 
makes  no  difference  in  this  argument,  whether 
this  is  so  or  not.  It  was  certainly  intended  to 
apply  to,  and  protect  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  court,  members 
of  both  branches  of  Congress,  to  all  the  officers 
of  the  government,  and  to  every  citizen  of  the 
several  states  of  the  Union. 

Its  application  to  such  officers  and  persons,  has 
never  been  doubted. 

lias  Congress,  by  either  of  the  acts  in  question, 
commanded  you  to  do  any  act  inconsistent  with 
your  duties  as  a  Christian  ? 


242  BELLE   SCOTT. 

Slave-holding  is  sin- 
It  is  the  claim  by  one  man,  to  hold  another  man 
as  his  property,  in  such  manner,  as  that  the  master 
has  the  power  to  compel  the  slave  to  involuntary 
labor  during  his  whole  life,  without  return  for  his 
labor;  and  to  make  the  will  of  the  master,  the 
rule  by  which  the  conduct  of  the  slave  shall  be 
guided  and  controlled. 

The  Bible  does  not,  as  a  treatise  on  natural 
theology,  first  prove  that  there  is  a  God ;  and 
then,  having  proved  that  fact,  go  on  to  state  what 
he  has  done.  It  assumes  it  as  an  unquestionable 
fact ;  its  first  line  is,  "  In  the  beginning  God  made 
the  heavens  and  the  earth." 

Nor  does  it  assert  that  all  men  have  rights. 
That,  too,  is  assumed  as  unquestionable  as  the 
existence  of  God.  It  forbids  man  to  worship  idols, 
assuming  that  he  has  it  in  his  power  to  worship 
them  or  not.  It  commands  men  to  remember 
and  keep  holy  the  Sabbath-day,  taking  it  for 
granted,  that  his  own  will  controls  his  conduct. 
It  commands  men  to  bring  up  their  children  in 
the  nurture  and  admonition  of  God ;  because  it 
recognizes,  as  the  only  true  position  of  parents,  the 
one  in  which  they  have  the  control  of  their  own 
offspring.  And  so  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end  of  the  book,  its  every  page  is  addressed  to 
men  in  the  condition  of  freemen,  and  not  in  the 


MR.    IVES'    SPEECH.  243 

condition  of  slaves.     It  is  then  just  as  true  that 
all  men  are  by  nature  entitled  to  freedom,  as  it 

is  that  there  is  a  God. 

***** 

God  is  the  Creator  of  the  world,  and  all  that  are 
in  it.  It  was  his  world  on  the  day  that  he  made 
it,  and  must  be  his  world  forever. 

HE  made  day  and  night,  and  man  has  no  power 
to  change  them. 

HE  made  summer  and  winter,  cold  and  heat, 
seed-time  and  harvest,  and  man  has  no  power  to 
change  them. 

HE  made  those  things  that  are  property  for 
man,  and  made  man,  and  established  his  relations 
to  property,  to  his  fellow-man,  and  to  himself; 
and  man  has  no  power  to  change  these  relations. 

He  read :  "  And  God  said,  Let  us  make  man  in 
our  image,  after  our  likeness ;  and  let  them  have 
dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the 
fowls  of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle,  and  over  all 
the  earth,  and  over  every  creeping  thing  that 
creepeth  upon  the  earth. 

"  So  God  created  man  in  his  own  image — in  the 
image  of  God  created  he  him,  male  and  female 
created  he  them." 

Here  the  distinction  between  man  and  property 
is  clearly  marked,  and  accurately  defined. 

Van  is  made  in  the  image  or  likeness  of  God 


244  BELLE   SCOTT. 

God  has  given  to  man  dominion  over  the  fish 
of  the  sea,  over  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and  over  the 
cattle  and  over  all  the  earth,  and  over  every 
creeping  thing,  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth. 

This  was  made  to  Adam,  as  the  father  and  re 
presentative  of  the  whole  race. 

From  the  creation  of  man  to  this  hour,  in  all 
ages,  and  among  all  nations,  man  has  been  every 
where,  the  Lord  of  all  things  in  this  world.  From 
the  naked  negro  lying  in  the  palm  tree's  shade, 
to  the  Esquimaux  tumbling  amid  the  ice-drifts  of 
the  polar  sea,  all  are  alike  conscious,  although 
untaught,  that  man  is  master  of  the  beasts  of  the 
field,  and  of  all  the  earth.  The  lion  cowers 
beneath  his  gaze,  and  shrinks  trembling  from  his 
presence ;  the  eagle  flies  affrighted  at  his  approach, 
and  the  whale  dives  to  the  bottom  of  the  ocean» 
to  seek  in  its  caves  a  hiding-place  from  his 
superior  power. 

In  civilized  life,  the  lightning  obeys  his  call; 
comes  from  its  home  in  the  thunder-cloud,  crouches 
as  a  spaniel  at  his  feet,  and  flies  at  his  command, 
the  meek  and  silent  messenger  of  his  will. 

The  things  that  God  has  given  to  man  for 
property,  are  property  in  all  places  on  the  earth, 
and  have  been  property  in  all  ages,  and  will  be 
property  to  the  end  of  the  wrorld.  lie  stamped 
svith  his  own  right  hand,  the  impress  of  property 


MR.    IVES'    SPEECH.  245 

upon  them,  deeper  than  the  footprints  of  gigantic 
birds  on  old  rocks,  and  that  impress  remains 
forever. 

When  the  horse  in  battle  loses  his  rider ;  when 
treasures  of  an  unknown  owner,  are  cast  by  ship 
wreck  upon  the  shore,  or  when  the  owner,  tired  of 
his  property,  throws  it  away,  the  finder  may  seize 
the  waif  or  the  estray,  and  take  it  to  his  own  use. 

If  therefore  the  black  man  is  property,  he  must 
always  be  so.  If  the  present  owner  shall  abandon 
his  claim,  the  next  finder  may  seize  him,  and 
subject  him  to  his  ownership.  The  emancipated 
slave  may  indeed  roam  like  the  wild  horse  in  the 
desert,  but  is  subject  to  be  re-captured  and 
subdued,  as  is  the  wild  horse,  by  the  first  man 
who  can  seize  him. 

States  and  nations  may  make  laws  to  secure 
men  in  their  rights  to  property ;  but  they  have 
neither  created  property,  nor  conferred  upon  man 
the  right  to  hold  it.  Men  held  property  before 
they  made  laws. 

The  distinction  between  man  and  property,  is 
as  wide,  and  as  impassable,  as  is  the  distinction 
between  men  and  beasts,  God  has  made  a  great 
gulf  between  them,  wider  than  the  earth,  and 
deeper  than  hell.  Property  can  never  be  made 
man,  and  man  can  never  be  made  property.  As 
it  is  certain  that  man  cannot  be  made  a  beast,  it 

21 


246  BELLE    SCOTT. 

is  equally  certain  that  man  never  can  have 
property  in  man. 

Legislation  has  indeed  declared  that  some  men 
are  property,  but  God  has  stamped  all  such 
legislation,  through  his  revealed  Word,  as  a  great 
LIE.  Legislation  has  sometimes  declared  that 
Christ  is  not  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  That  also, 
he  has  stamped  AS  A  LIE. 

Men  have  the  power  to  enslave  their  fellow- 
men.  So,  too,  they  have  the  power  to  cut  off 
their  limbs,  to  put  out  their  eyes,  to  shut  them 
up  in  dungeons,  to  rob  and  murder  them.  Some 
times  this  is  done  under  law,  and  sometimes 
without  law,  and  against  law.  The  existence  of 
the  power  therefore,  does  not  even  tend  to  prove 
the  right  so  to  exercise  it.  The  power  to  kill  a 
man,  is  no  proof  of  the  right  to  do  so ;  and  tho 
power  to  enslave  a  man,  is  no  proof  whatever  of 
the  right  to  do  so.  From  the  very  nature  of  man 
as  a  free  moral  agent,  he  has  the  power  to  sin ; 
but  to  claim  that  he  has  the  right  to  sin,  is  simply 
to  annihilate  the  distinction  between  good  and 
evil,  right  and  wrong. 

^rf  -ff-  -ft  -fc 

God  gave  to  the  black  man  eyes,  he  therefore 
has  the  right  to  see. 

HE  gave  him  ears,  therefore  he  has  the  right 
to  hear. 


MR.    IVES'    SPEECH.  247 

He  gave  him  a  tongue,  therefore  he  has  the 
right  to  speak.  He  gave  him  hands  and  feet, 
and  therefore  he  has  the  right  to  use  his  limbs. 

God  also  gave  him  intellect,  will,  reason,  judg 
ment,  passions,  affections,  feelings,  and  therefore 
he  has  the  right  to  will,  to  reason,  to  judge,  and 
to  control  his  own  conduct  by  their  guidance,  as 
fully  as  he  has  the  right  to  walk  by  the  vision  of 
his  own  eyes.  The  master  has  no  right  to  put 
out  the  eyes  of  his  slave,  and  therefore  has  no 
right  to  crush  or  to  control  his  will. 

When  man  claims  property  in  his  fellow-man, 
where  is  his  warrant  ?  He  has  all  the  right  to 
the  things  of  this  earth  that  God  has  given  him, 
and  no  more.  Where,  then,  is  the  authority  by 
which  one  man  can  have  the  right  to  hold  another 
man  as  property  ?  It  is  not  in  the  Bible. 

Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  Why  ? 
Because  thy  neighbor's  rights  are  equal  to  thy  own. 

Do  unto  others  as  you  would  that  others  should 
do  unto  you;  because,  as  your  rights  are  equal, 
the  measure  of  your  duties  is  also  equal. 

And  it  is  only  by  bursting  through  these  walls 
of  fire,  and  trampling  these  laws  under  foot ;  and 
stopping  his  ears  to  the  voice  of  the  Lord  God 
speaking  in  thunder,  that  any  man  can  seize  his 
fellow,  and  deprive  him  of  the  rights  that  these 
commandments  have  conferred  upon  him. 


248  BELLE   SCOTT. 

There  is  a  distinction  between  legislation  and 
tyranny.  The  province  of  legislation  is  to  pro 
tect  men  in  their  rights.  "  Governments  are  insti 
tuted  for  the  good  of  the  governed."  Tyranny 
strikes  down  the  rights  of  man.  The  distinction 
is  as  wide  as  the  difference  between  right  and 

o 

wrong;  the  whole  moral  world  rolls  between  them. 

It  may  be  as  difficult  to  know  the  precise  point 
where  legislative  power  ends,  and  tyranny  begins, 
as  it  may  be  for  the  late  traveler  to  know  when 
daylight  has  ceased;  but  he  knows  it  is  night, 
when  he  is  groping  in  thick  darkness. 

Slave-holding  is  tyranny,  because  it  deprives 
a  man  of  all  his  rights :  if  it  is  not  so,  the  word 
has  either  no  meaning,  or  has  been  misapplied  in 
all  ages  and  among  all  men,  and  there  can  be  no 
such  thing  as  tyranny  on  earth. 

You  cannot  surrender  a  fugitive  slave  without  re 
cognizing  the  rightfulness  of  the  claim  of  the  master 
to  the  services  of  the  slave.  All  the  fugitive-slave- 
laws,  assume  as  their  basis,  that  the  claim  of  the 
master  to  the  person  of  the  slave,  is  a  rightful  claim. 

The  whole  system  of  slavery,  and  the  fugitive 
slave-acts — which  are  intended  to  sustain  and 
secure  that  system — proceed  upon  the  theory  that 
slave-holding  is  not  a  sin.  The  Bible  teaches 
us  that  it  is  sin;  and  this  first  amendment, 
guarantees  to  us  the  right  to  treat  it  as  sin. 


MR.    IVES'    SPEECH.  249 

A  slave  is  an  article  of  property;  may  be 
bought  and  sold ;  can  own  nothing  of  this  world's 
lands  or  goods ;  may  have  his  wife  separated  from 
him  forever ;  may  have  his  children  one  by  one 
sold  before  his  eyes,  into  returnless  bondage ;  he 
cannot  learn  to  read  even  the  name  of  God ;  may 
not,  except  at  the  will  of  his  master,  go  up  to 
worship  God  in  his  sanctuary ! 

As  a  MAN,  he  is  an  immortal  being ;  and  it  is  our 
duty,  and  our  right  to  treat  him  as  a  MAN. 
Others  may  disregard  this  duty,  and  deny  this 
right;  others  may  treat  him,  if  they  dare,  as 
property ;  but  with  our  Bible  in  our  hands,  we 
cannot  do  so.  The  light  that  burns  as  of  polished 
gold,  upon  all  its  pages,  teaches  us  too  clearly  for 
doubt,  that  he  is  a  MAN. 

When  God  commands  a  man  to  do  a  thing,  he 
gives  him  the  right  to  do  it. 

He  commanded  Daniel  to  pray.  The  power 
of  the  Persian  empire  forbade  him;  but  he 
prayed :  and  God  by  a  miracle  sanctioned  his  con 
duct. 

He  commanded  the  three  holy  children  not  to 
worship  idols ;  they  were  commanded  by  the 
Persian  king  to  do  so;  and  God  by  a  miracle 
sustained  them  in  refusing  to  disobey  the  king. 

Christ  commanded  the  apostles  to  preach  the 
Gospel ;  they  were  forbidden  to  do  so  by  the  Jews, 


250  BELLE   SCOTT. 

whom  they  refused  to  obey ;  and  God  by  miracles 
sanctioned  their  conduct. 

The  whole  Christian  world  has  applauded  this 
conduct  of  Daniel,  and  of  the  three  holy  children, 
and  of  the  apostles  for  more  than  eighteen  cen 
turies;  so  that  we  have  the  direct  sanction  of 
God,  and  the  unanimous  voice  of  all  the  civilized 
world  for  ages  upon  ages,  sustaining  the  principle, 
that  what  God  commands  men  to  do,  He  gives 

them  the  right  to  do. 

***** 

Here  then  lies  the  radical  difference  between 
the  one  theory  and  the  other.  God  never  created  a 
soul  for  slavery — nor  a  body,  the  mere  habitation 
of  the  soul — to  wear  its  shackles.  The  immortal 
being,  swells  beyond  the  limits  of  the  fetters  that 
encompass  him ;  bursts  them,  as  straw,  into  frag 
ments.  He  walks  with  the  sunlight  of  God  upon 
his  brow,  and  hosts  of  unseen  angels  cluster 
around  him. 

It  is  our  right ;  the  right  of  all  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States;  born  with  us  as  men,  and 
secured,  and  guaranteed,  and  established  by  the 
wisdom  of  our  fathers  in  this  first  amendment  to 
the  Constitution,  to  tret  the  fugitive  as  a  man. 

We  dare  not  relinquish  this  right.  It  is  part 
of  our  own  immortality.  We  can  no  more  relin 
quish  it,  than  we  can  destroy  our  own  souls.  It 


MR.    IVES'    SPEECH.  251 

is  sacred,  it  came  down  from  God  out  of  Heaven. 
To  relinquish  it  for  a  moment,  is  treason  to  our 
country,  and  apostasy  from  God.  No,  by  the 
battle-fields  of  our  revolution,  and  the  blood  of 
our  fathers  shed  upon  them;  by  the  blood  of 
each  holy  martyr,  from  the  dawn  of  creation  to 
this  hour ;  by  our  love  of  the  Bible,  and  the  great 
truths  it  teaches ;  by  the  graves  of  our  mothers, 
who  taught  us  to  read  and  love  it,,  and  by  the 
holy  dust  that  slumbers  within  their  coffins ;  by 
every  tie  that  can  bind  man  to  man,  and  man  to 
his  God ;  we  cannot,  we  must  not,  we  dare  not, 
we  will  not  relinquish  for  a  moment  only,  this 
great  right. 

If  an  act  of  Congress  commanded  you  to 
worship  an  idol ;  such  act  would  be,  by  the  Consti 
tution  itself,  but  a  nullity.  If  an  act  of  Congress 
commanded  you  not  to  pray,  as  Daniel  was  com 
manded  ;  the  act  would  be  but  void. 

If  Congress  commanded  you,  as  the  early 
Christians  were  commanded,  to  burn  but  a  single 
grain  of  incense  at  the  altar  of  CaBsar ;  you  might 
with  impunity,  as  they  did,  at  the  loss  of  their 
lives,  spurn  the  command. 

If  Congress  forbids  any  man  to  preach  the 
gospel,  as  the  apostles  were  forbidden ;  such  act 
would  be  void. 

All  of  these  examples,  and  a  thousand  more, 


252  BELLE   SCOTT. 

were  familiar  to  the  men  who  prepared  and  who 
adopted  this  amendment. 

If  the  act  required  a  commissioner  to  aid  a 
robber  in  his  robbery,  it  would  be  clearly  void,  for 
robbery  is  sin. 

If  it  required  him  to  guard  the  spoil  of  the 
pirate,  or  the  robber,  or  to  aid  the  robber  in  guard 
ing  it,  it  would  be  clearly  void. 

If  it  required  him  to  condemn  innocent  men, 
not  even  charged  with  crime,  into  imprisonment 
for  ten  years  in  the  penitentiary,  it  would  be 
clearly  void ;  because  the  act  of  condemnation 
would  be  sin. 

If  it  required  him  to  tear  a  husband  from  his 
wife,  or  the  wife  from  the  husband,  it  would  be 
clearly  void,  for  such  act  is  sinful.  God  has  said, 
"Let  not  man  put  asunder,  whom  God  hath 
joined." 

If  it  required  him  to  tear  the  child  from  the 
parent,  it  would  be  clearly  void,  for  the  relation 
is  established  by  God  as  an  incident  to  that  of 
marriage. 

If  it  required  him  to  defraud  the  laborer  of  his 
wages,  or  to  withhold  the  wages  from  the  laborer, 
the  act  would  be  a  sin :  so,  too,  is  it  a  sin  to  aid 
or  assist  another  to  do  the  same  wrong. 

If  it  required  him  to  deny  to  any  man  the 
right  to  keep  holy  the  Sabbath  day,  it  would  be 


MR.   IVES'    SPEECH.  253 

void ;  and  so  too  it  is,  if  it  requires  him  to  aid 
another  man  to  do  so. 

If  it  required  him  to  oppress  any  man,  it  would 
be  void;  and  so  too  if  it  requires  him  to  aid 
another  man  in  his  oppression. 

If  it  required  him  to  degrade  human  nature  as 
far  as  he  could  do  so,  to  the  condition  and  level 
of  the  brute,  it  would  be  void ;  or  to  aid  any 
other  man  to  do  so. 

If  it  required  him  to  deny  that  God  created 
man  in  his  own  image,  a  little  lower  than  the 
angels,  and  crowned  him  with  glory  and  honor, 
the  act  would  be  void. 

If  the  act  required  him  to  deny  the  authority 
of  Christ  to  make  the  law,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself,"  it  would  be  void. 

If  it  allowed  him  to  admit  the  authority  to 
make  such  law,  but  commanded  him  to  disregard 
it,  or  to  aid  another  man  in  disregarding  and  con 
temning  it,  it  would  be  void. 

If  it  required  him  to  be  a  respecter  of  persons 
in  judgment,  it  would  be  void,  for  such  act  is  sin. 

If  it  required  him  to  take  the  side  of  the  op 
pressor,  against  the  right  of  the  poor  and  needy, 
and  the  oppressed,  the  act  would  be  void ;  for  such 
conduct  is  sin. 

If  it  required  him  to  sustain  by  his  conduct,  the 
dogma  that  man  can  have  property  in  his  fellow- 


254  BELLE    SCOTT. 

man,  it  would  be  void ;  for  that  doctrine  is  as  disho 
noring  to  God,  and  as  injurious  to  man  as  any  that 
ever  has  existed  on  earth;  and  Congress  can  no  more 
compel  a  man  to  recognize  the  rightfulness  of  this 
doctrine  in  his  official  or  private  conduct,  than 
they  can  compel  him  to  recognize  the  doctrine  of 
transubstantiation. 

If  it  required  him  to  commit  upon  an  innocent 
man,  not  even  charged  with  crime,  an  act  of  great 
cruelty ;  as  to  put  out  his  eyes,  or  to  aid  another 
man  to  do  so,  it  would  be  void ;  and  so,  too,  would 
it  be  void,  upon  the  same  principle,  if  it  required 
him  to  aid  another  to  crush  the  will  of  man. 

Christ  says,  "  whatsoever  ye  do  to  one  of  the 
least  of  these  my  disciples,  ye  do  unto  me." 

And  again  he  says,  "  whosoever  shall  offend  one 
of  these  little  ones  that  believe  in  me;  better 
were  it  for  him  that  a  millstone  were  hanged 
about  his  neck,  and  he  cast  into  the  sea." 

If  Christ  was  here  as  he  is  described  since  his 
ascension,  seated  upon  the  throne,  King  of 
kings,  and  Lord  of  lords,  with  angels  and  arch 
angels,  and  all  the  redeemed  of  the  earth,  wor 
shiping  at  his  feet ;  would  not  the  very  thought 
of  sending  him  into  slavery,  be  blasphemy  ? 

If  Christ  was  here  as  he  was  in  the  hall  of 
Pilate,  crowned  with  thorns,  and  you  knew  him, 
would  you  send  HIM  into  slavery? 


MR.    IVES'    SPEECH.  255 

lie  is  here;  he  is  here  in  the  person  of  his 
disciple.  Christ  himself  is  here.  He  says  to 
you,  "  Whatever  you  do  to  this  my  disciple,  you 
do  to  me."  If  you  send  her  into  slavery,  you 
send  me  into  slavery;  if  you  send  her  to  the 
auction-block,  you  send  me  to  the  auction-block ; 
if  you  send  her  to  the  lash,  you  send  me  to  the 
lash.  If  her  flesh  and  blood  are  sold,  my  flesh 
and  my  blood  are  sold,  as  Judas  sold  it.  If  an 
act  of  Congress  that  should  command  you  to 
worship  a  golden  image  would  be  void,  because 
contrary  to  this  amendment,  these  acts  are  also 
void,  because  they  command  you  to  do  a  greater 
wrong,  and  to  commit  a  fouler  and  deeper  sin. 
These  acts  do,  in  effect,  command  you  to  abjure 
and  to  renounce  the  Christian  religion,  ly  com 
manding  you  to  trample  in  the  very  dust  the  body 
of  Christ,  in  the  person  of  his  humble  disciples. 
They  demand  of  you,  if  it  be  possible,  a  still 
greater  sacrifice.  Christ  has  said,  "  better  would 
it  be  for  you,  that  a  millstone  were  hanged  about 
your  neck,  and  that  you  were  cast  into  the  sea, 
than  that  you  offend  this  little  one."  These  acts 
therefore,  command  you  to  sacrifice  more  than 
life — your  soul. 

If  you  surrender  your  own  liberty  of  conscience, 
you  betray  this  great  right  not  only  for  yourself, 
but  for  all  the  people  of  the  United  States. 


256  BELLE   SCOTT. 

No  man  can  serve  two  masters :  either  he  will 
love  the  one,  and  hate  the  other ;  or  cleave  to  the 
one,  and  forsake  the  other.  No  man  can  serve 
God  and  Mammon. 

We  must  then  choose  between  these  claims. 

If  we  take  the  side  of  the  master ;  we  recognize 
his  claim  to  the  services  of  the  slave. 

If  we  take  the  part  of  the  slave,  we  deny  that 
claim. 

This  amendment  to  the  Constitution  was  made 
for  the  very  purpose  of  securing  to  us  our  right 
to  obey  God  rather  than  man.  It  was  adopt 
ed  for  that  object,  and  Congress  can  make  no 
law  that  conflicts,  in  any  degree,  or  to  any  ex 
tent,  with  its  purpose  and  meaning. 

Christianity  and  slavery  are  antagonistic  prin 
ciples. 

Christianity  enters  into  the  heart  of  man  as 
into  a  great  temple,  and  lights  a  pure  and  holy 
flame  upon  its  altars.  Slavery  comes  into  the 
same  temple,  and  extends  her  bloody  hand,  and 
extinguishes  the  -  last  ray  of  its  light,  and  fills  it 
with  the  silence,  and  the  corruption  of  the  grave. 

Christianity,  as  she  descended  from  Heaven, 
proclaimed,  trumpet-tongued,  to  all  the  nations  of 
the  listening  earth,  the  immortality  of  man. 

Slavery  herds  him  with  the  beasts  of  the  field. 

Slavery  robs  the  slave  of  the  wages  for  his  labor. 


Mil.    IVES'    SPEECH.  257 

Christianity  commands  that  he  shall  be  paid  for 
it  by  the  light  of  the  setting  sun. 

Slavery  denies  to  him  the  marriage  relation. 
Christianity  blesses  that  relation,  and  guards  it 
by  her  protecting  wall  of  fire.  Slavery  robs  the 
slave  even  of  the  children  of  his  love.  Christianity 
places  them  in  his  embracing  arms,  and  blesses 
the  embrace. 

I  can  add  but  little  upon  this  part  of  my  argu 
ment,  except  to  say,  that  your  writ  will  command 
the  executive  officer  of  this  court  to  deliver  the 
alleged  fugitive  to  her  claimant.  Even  if  you  shall 
be  willing  to  encounter  the  horrors  that  compli 
ance  with  these  alleged  laws,  will,  as  sure  as  the 
Bible  is  the  true  word  of  God  himself,  bring  upon 
you;  you  ought  not  to  command,  you  have  no 
right  to  command,  another,  less  educated  than 
yourself,  to  do  so.  He,  too,  is  protected  by  this 
amendment  to  the  Constitution.  He  too  has 
liberty  of  conscience.  He  too  has  an  immortality 
of  happiness  or  of  woe  before  him.  You  ought 
not  command  him  to  surrender  Christ  into  slavery, 
in  the  person  of  his  disciple.  Your  oath  binds 
you  to  support  the  ivhole  Constitution,  in  all  its 
parts,  including  this  amendment,  and  you  have  no 
right  to  violate  it  by  commands  to  your  officer  to 
do  a  deed  of  sin  and  shame. 


258  BELLE    SCOTT. 

Upon  the  theory  that  the  third  clause  of  the 
fourth  article  has  not  been  repealed  by  the  first 
amendment,  and  that  that  amendment  is  to  be 
inviolably  preserved,  execute  if  you  can,  that 
third  clause  of  the  fourth  article  ;  but  in  doing  so, 
be  careful  that  you  require  no  judge,  no  commis 
sioner,  no  marshal,  no  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
no  man,  whether  a  citizen  or  not,  to  do  anything 
whatever  inconsistent  with  loving  God  with  all  his 
heart,  and  his  neighbor  as  himself;  for  this  is  the 
exercise  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

But  the  laws  of  1793  and  1850,  require  us  to 
take  the  part  of  the  master,  and  to  aid  him  to 
take  the  fugitive  back  into  slavery. 

Congress  not  only  has  no  power  to  pass  any 
law  that  interferes  with  any  man's  religious 
liberty,  but  to  make  the  matter  still  more  certain, 
all  power  whatever  to  pass  any  law,  that  directly 
or  indirectly  interferes  with  any  man's  religious 
liberty,  is  by  plain  words  expressly  taken  away 
and  withheld  from  Congress. 

Nor  can  they  then  pass  any  law  by  which  any 
judge,  or  commissioner,  or  other  officer  of  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States,  may  be  compelled  to 
aid  in  any  degree  in  returning  to  his  master  a  fug- 
tive  slave  ?  For  the  judge,  or  commissioner,  or 
other  officer  of  the  United  States  is,  in  his  office,  the 
agent  for  the  government,  of  the  whole  people ;  and 


ME.    IVES'    SPEECH.  259 

the  law  that  strikes  down  his  rights,  strikes  down 
their  rights. 

There  is  no  difference,  in  principle,  between  a 
law  that  forbids  us  to  read  the  Bible,  and  a  law 
that  forbids  us  to  obey  it,  or  if  there  is,  it  is 
better  that  we  shall  not  have  the  power  to  read  it, 
than  that  we  shall  be  compelled  to  disobey  it. 

Just  so  far  as  slavery  is  in  conflict  with  the 
Bible,  these  acts  of  1793  and  1850  command  us 
to  do  what  the  Bible  forbids. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  to  love  God  with  all  their  hearts,  and  their 
neighbors  as  themselves;  and  every  law  that 
interferes  with  this  (as  do  the  acts  '93  and  '50) 
pierces  the  very  vitals  of  the  Christian  religion  as 
the  spear  of  the  Roman  soldier  pierced  the  heart 
of  Christ  on  the  cross. 

The  claim,  of  right,  to  recapture  a  fugitive 
slave,  requires  the  agency  of  officers  and  men 
who  are  guaranteed  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  right 
to  religious  liberty. 

The  slave-holding  states  claimed  the  right  to 
recapture  fugitive  slaves :  that  was  conceded  to 
them.  They  then  wanted  the  Constitution  amen 
ded  so  as  that  Congress  shall  make  no  law  "re 
specting  an  establishment  of  Religion  or  prohibit 
ing  the  free  exercise  thereof."  All  the  states 


BELLE   SCOTT. 

wanted  it  and  it  was  adopted  by  the  consent  of 
the  slave,  and  of  the  free  states. 

The  people  intended,  by  this  amendment,  to 
secure  to  themselves  and  their  posterity  forever, 
the  free  enjoyment  of  religious  liberty.  If  there 
lurked,  in  the  Constitution  before  it  was  amended, 
any  power  whatever  to  interfere  with  any  man's 
religious  freedom,  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
they  intended,  by  this  amendment,  to  deprive 
Congress  of  all  power  to  do  so.  And  they  have 
done  it. 

There  is,  there  can  be  no  question  that  Con 
gress  never  had  power,  since  the  Constitution  has 
been  amended,  to  pass  any  law  that  directly 
or  indirectly,  to  any  extent,  impairs  any  man's 
religious  liberty.  The  only  question  here  is,  do 
the  laws  that  sanction  slavery  and  require  the 
people  of  the  United  States  to  redeliver  a  fugitive 
slave,  require  any  man  to  commit  a  sin  ? 

These  acts  of  1793,  and  1850,  do  require  acts 
to  be  done,  which  Christianity  forbids  and  pro 
hibits — acts  which  it  enjoins. 

These  acts  are  therefore  void.  If  Congress  can 
make  another,  not  inconsistent  with  the  first,  and 
other  amendments  to  that  instrument,  let  them 
do  so,  but  until  they  do,  you  have  no  power  to 
act  upon  the  subject. 


MR,    IVES'    SPEECH.  261 

There  is,  sir,  nothing  novel  in  the  fact,  that 
Christianity  is  constantly  making  fresh  and  new 
application  of  its  truth  and  light  to  old  abuses. 
At  the  time  this  amendment  was  adopted,  scarcely 
a  man  in  the  United  States,  thought  that  the 
moderate  drinking  of  spirituous  liquors  was 
inconsistent  with  Christianity ;  now  thousands  of 
the  best  and  most  enlightened  Christians  in  our 
country,  think  that  it  is  so. 

The  whole  matter  then,  results  in  this.  If 
slave-holding  is  a  sin,  and  to  aid,  abet,  and 
support  it,  is  sinful  in  any  degree,  then  Congress 
can  pass  no  law  by  which  any  man  in  the  slave 
states,  or  in  the  free  states,  can  be  compelled  to 
participate  in  that  sin. 

If  slave-holding  is  contrary  to  the  genius  and 
spirit  of  Christianity,  then  it  is  an  interference 
with  religious  liberty,  to  compel  any  man  directly 
or  indirectly  to  participate  in  it. 

The  slave-holders  made  their  contract,  by 
which  they  acquired  the  right  claimed  for  them, 
and  afterward  made  another  contract,  by  which 
they  surrendered  that  right,  if  it  could  not  be 
exerted  without  violating  the  right  to  the  "free 
exercise  of  religion." 

If  my  theory  is  wrong,  then  there  is  not  an 
inch  of  our  soil,  which  is  sacred  to  freedom. 
Neither  the  graves  of  the  heroes  of  the  revolution, 

22 


262  BELLE   SCOTT. 

nor  the  battle-fields  upon  which  they  poured  out 
their  blood,  nor  the  domestic  hearth,  nor  the 
altars  of  God,  nor  the  mountain-tops,  nor  fche 
caves  of  the  earth,  are  sacred  to  freedom.  Into 
all  of  these  the  slave-hunter  may  enter,  and  drag 
from  them  his  shrieking,  and  trembling  victim, 
back  again  into  hopeless  bondage. 

But  if  my  theory  is  true,  and  I  do  most  fully 
believe  it  is  so ;  then  the  first  moment  the  flying 
bondman  touches  the  soil  of  the  free  states,  he  is 
free.  His  flesh,  and  blood,  and  bones,  and  soul, 
are  all  then,  under  God,  his  own.  The  slave  is 
left  behind  him,  and  he  stands  up  a  MAN.  He 
can  now  worship  his  God  according  to  the  teach 
ings  of  his  conscience.  He  can  now  learn  to 
read,  and  with  his  Bible  open  before  him,  look  at 
the  wonders  it  teaches ;  as  he  looks  at,  and  loves 
the  stars  of  Heaven.  He  can  now  be  a  husband  and 
a  father,  and  bring  up  his  children  in  the  nurture 
and  fear  of  the  Lord.  He  can  now  labor,  and  have 
his  labor  sweetened  by  the  hope  of  reward. 

If  this  theory  is  true,  Congress  had  no  right, 
and  never  can  have,  until  the  first  amendment  of 
the  Constitution  shall  be  repealed,  to  pass  any 
law,  by  which  any  man  shall  be  required  to  aid  in 
the  surrender  of  a  fugitive  slave ;  nor  can  any 
state  do  so,  whose  Constitution  has  in  it  a 
guarantee  of  religious  liberty. 


MR.    IVES'    SPEECH.  263 

The  whole  inquiry  rests  upon  this  only.  Is  it 
right,  or  is  it  wrong  for  one  man,  in  any  degree, 
to  aid  another  to  re-capture  a  fugitive  slave  ? 

The  natural  feelings  of  humanity  in  every 
man's  bosom,  exclaim  in  thunder-tones,  that  it 
is  wrong !  And  the  law  of  Christ,  as  firmly  fixed 
as  any  physical  law  that  governs  matter,  that 
"  whatever  (either  good  or  ill)  you  do  to  one  of 
the  least  of  his  disciples,  you  do  to  Him ;  and 
that  you  had  better  be  drowned  in  the  sea,  than 
to  wrong  the  least  of  those  disciples,"  leaves  no 
doubt  in  the  mind  of  any  Christian,  that  it  is  ruin 
to  his  soul,  to  obey  this  law. 

We  can  swear  then,  to  support  our  Constitu 
tion  ;  nor  will  the  oath  come  reluctantly  from  us, 
for  it  will  express  the  warmest  feelings  of  our 
hearts.  Ay,  we  will  support  it;  we  will  cluster 
around  our  national  flag,  its  emblem,  rejoicing  with 
our  children,  amidst  the  green  fields,  and  waving 
harvests,  in  days  of  peace;  and  in  luxurious 
cities,  where  commerce  rolls  her  golden  tides 
along ;  and  upon  every  sea,  and  every  shore  to 
which  the  sails  of  that  commerce  may  bear  us. 
And  we  will  support  it,  as  our  fathers  supported 
that  flag,  amid  the  din,  and  noise,  and  strife  of 
battle  and  of  blood,  on  the  deck  of  the  ship,  as 
she  careens  at  each  broadside  that  she  receives 
or  gives ;  and  on  fields,  where  the  dying  and  the 


264  BELLE   SCOTT. 

dead  are  lying  thickly  around  us,  and  the  living 
are  struggling  for  victory  or  death. 

We  will  support  it,  because  it  is  worthy  of 
support.  We  do  love  it,  because  it  is  worthy  of 
our  love.  It  secures  to  us,  the  right  to  worship 
and  obey  God.  The  power  to  make  any  law,  at 
all  inconsistent  with  the  fullest  and  freest  exercise 
of  any  religious  duty,  is  expressly  taken  away 
from  Congress.  They  can  no  more  compel  us  to 
deliver  God's  image  into  slavery,  or  to  aid  in  the 
least,  any  other  man  to  do  so,  than  they  can 
compel  us  to  annihilate  our  own  souls. 


CHAPTER      XXXIV. 


THE    PBISON. 

POOR  Belle  seemed  at  first  to  be  in  despair, 
but  as  her  counsel  proceeded  in  his  argument — 
as  his  flushed  face  and  earnest  tones  showed  how 
deeply  he  felt  what  he  was  saying — her  hopes 
seemed  to  revive ;  and  when  he  sat  down,  a  smile — 
the  light  of  life — lit  up  her  features ;  she  wiped  a 
tear — a  tear  of  gratitude  from  her  eyes — and  in 
low  tones,  but  with  a  fervor  that  showed  how  full 
her  heart  was,  thanked  Mr.  Ives  for  his  efforts 
on  her  behalf. 

The  commissioner  stated  that,  in  view  of  the 
new  course  of  argument  pursued  by  the  counsel 
for  the  defendant,  he  would  take  time  to  deliber 
ate  upon  the  questions  raised ;  and  inquired  at 
what  time  it  would  be  convenient  for  the  parties 
to  be  present  and  hear  his  decision. 

Mr.  Scott  said  that  he  would  be  absent  on 
business  for  several  weeks,  and  would  then  return 
to  his  home  near  New  Orleans.  If  the  decision 
could  be  postponed  until  his  return,  it  would 
accommodate  him. 

(205) 


266  BELLE   SCOTT. 

Belle  readily  assented  to  this,  and  the  com 
missioner  said  that  in  ten  weeks  he  would  de 
cide  the  matter ;  and  that  the  parties  might  pre 
pare  themselves,  and  then  produce  any  addi 
tional  evidence  they  might  have,  and  if  further 
argument  was  wished  for  by  either  party,  both 
would  again  be  heard.  He  said :  "  I  shall  be 
obliged,  however,  (greatly  as  I  dislike  to  do  so,) 
to  commit  the  defendants  to  prison  until  the  time 
I  have  set  for  delivering  my  opinion." 

No  change  passed  over  Belle's  countenance  when 
she  heard  the  order  to  remand  her  to  jail.  The 
other  woman,  who  was  much  older  than  she,  was 
greatly  frightened. 

She  said,  "  she  did  not  want  to  run  away,  but 
that  she  was  'suaded  off."  Her  master  asked 
her  who  persuaded  her  to  leave  him. 

She  then  said,  "  Oh !  nobody,  master ;  I  only 
took  a  walk  out,  and  intended  to  come  back 
directly,  but  it  was  dark,  so  that  I  could  not  find 
the  boat. 

The  commissioner  then  explained  her  rights, 
and  even  went  so  far  as  to  intimate  that  it  might 
be  that  she  would  not  be  delivered  up  at  all,  but 
would  be  suffered  to  go  where  she  pleased  at  the 
end  of  the  time.  But  she  was  so  frightened  by 
the  word  jail,  that  after  a  few  moments  of  apparent 
indecision,  she  said  she  would  o-o  with  her  master 


THE   PRISON.  207 

if  he  would  forgive  her,  and  she  would  never 
attempt  to  run  away  again. 

Mr.  Scott  walked  across  the  room,  and  said  that 
'he  was  satisfied  with  the  order  made  by  the  court. 

The  woman  Katy  was  taken  to  a  steamboat  on 
the  river,  and  into  slavery  for  life.  If  her  eyes 
had  been  put  out  by  the  slaveholder,  all  would 
have  denounced  the  act  as  one  of  great  cruelty ; 
her  will  was  crushed — and  but  few  men  saw  any 
wrong  or  cruelty  in  doing  that. 

Mr.  Reed  accompanied  Belle  to  the  jail.  When 
they  reached  it,  the  jailer,  Mr.  Jackson,  carefully 
read  the  commitment  twice  very  slowly,  and  then 
looked  at  the  writing  on  the  back  of  it.  "  All  is 
right.  Is  this  the  person  who  is  named  in  this 
writ?"  The  marshal  said,  "Yes." 

Belle  was  then  told  to  be  seated  for  a  few 
moments  in  the  front  room,  which  the  jailer's 
family  occupied  as  a  dwelling. 

In  a  short  time  the  jailer  came  back  and  said,  "  I 
will  now  show  you  your  cell."  Belle,  without  even 
the  appearance  of  reluctance,  followed  him  along 
a  wide  hall,  until  they  reached  the  cell  farthest 
from  the  entrance.  Into  that  she  was  told  to 
enter.  She  did  so.  The  only  furniture  was  a 
bed  and  a  chair.  There  was  no  window,  but  the 
door  was  made  of  thick  iron  bars ;  these  crossed 
each  other,  and  left  small  openings  of  about  an 


"2  6  8  BELLE   SC01T. 

inch  and  a  half  square.  The  jailer  closed  the 
door,  and  Belle  was  locked  in  alone. 

The  jailer  now  left,  and  Mr.  Reed  lingered  a 
few  minutes,  standing  outside  the  cell.  He  said :" 

"  Belle,  I  am  very  sorry  for  you,  locked  up  here 
in  this  gloomy  cell,  and  where  the  few  that  see 
you  are  all  strangers ;  you  are  indeed  a  stranger 
in  a  strange  land." 

"You  may  think  my  condition  an  unhappy 
one,  sir,  but  indeed  I  feel  as  if  a  load  was  taken 
from  my  heart.  I  would  much  rather  live  here  all 
my  life  and  die  here,  among  strangers,  than  return 
to  slavery.  This  air,  close  and  foul  as  it  is,  is 
fresh  and  healthy  compared  with  that  of  slavery. 
I  breathe  more  freely.  I  am  full  of  hope." 

"What  did  you  intend  to  do  when  you  left 
the  boat?" 

"  I  did  not  know  where  to  go — anywhere  where 
I  could  be  free.  I  intended  to  teach  music,  French, 
German  and  embroidery,  if  I  could  get  pupils,  and 
to  live  quietly  and  keep  the  condition  of  my  life 
a  secret." 

"  Did  you  intend  to  go  to  Canada  ?" 

"  No,  unless  I  found  it  necessary  to  do  so,  and 
then  I  would  have  gone  even  to  the  polar  regions 
rather  than  be  recaptured.  Canada,  I  think,  is 
too  cold  for  me.  I  could  not  be  known  as  a  slave 
by  my  complexion." 


THE    PRISON.  269 

"  Well,  Belle,  1  am  sorry  for  you,  1  will  do  all 
that  I  can  to  aid  you,  and  to  make  you  comfort 
able  while  you  are  here.  I  will,  with  your  permis 
sion,  visit  you  often,  and  bring  you  books  and 
papers,  and  a  lady  to  see  you  who  was  a  school 
mate  of  my  early  life." 

"  Come,  do  come  frequently,  and  let  me,  if  you 
please,  see  the  lady;  companionship  is  always 
pleasant,  and  (looking  round)  it  will  be  doubly  so 
here." 

Mr.  Reed  bade  her  good-by  and  left  the  jail. 

Early  the  next  morning,  as  he  was  going  to  his 
work,  he  again  called  with  some  newspapers. 

He  found  Belle  very  sad.  The  excitement  of 
the  previous  day  had  gone  off,  and  she  was  pale 
and  nervous. 

"  How  have  you  passed  the  night,  Belle  ?'' 

"  Oh !  I  have  scarcely  slept  at  all.  I  have 
been  thinking,  thinking,  thinking  all  night  long. 
Almost  all  the  events  of  my  life  have  passed  in 
review  before  me  as  far  as  I  can  remember ;  and 
indeed,  although  I  see  much  in  it  which,  if  I  could 
do  over  again,  I  hope  I  should  do  better,  I  cannot 
see  why  it  is  that  I  should  be  a  slave  and  be 
here  ?  My  crime,  in  running  off,  is  but  the  crime 
of  a  canary  bird,  that  flies  from  the  open  door  of 
its  cage.  I  have  never  in  my  life  injured  any 
one  in  property,  person,  or  reputation.  I  have 

23 


270  BELLE    SCOTT. 

lived  quietly  and  peaceably,  as  far  as  I  could,  with 
all  persons.  I  have  lived  in  the  midst  of  society 
but  almost  alone  in  the  world. 

While  we  were  talking  at  the  door  of  the  cell, 
the  grate  that  led  into  the  hall  was  opened  and  a 
gentleman  came  in  who  was  a  clergyman,  and  the 
chaplain  of  the  prison. 

His  salutation  to  Belle  was  courteous  and  kind. 
"  I  came,"  he  said,  "  to  see  you,  because  I  believe 
it  to  be  my  duty  to  visit  all  who  may  be 
imprisoned  here.  I  deeply  sympathize  with  you 
and  believe  slave-holding  a  great  sin.  I  have 
heard  too  of  the  defense  made  for  you  by  your 
counsel,  and  have  almost  as  deep  an  interest  as 
yourselfj  in  the  decision  which  may  be  made. 
Whatever  I  can  do  to  soften  the  pains  of  imprison 
ment  while  you  remain  here,  if  you  wish,  will 
gladly  be  done ;  and  I  have  many  kind  friends 
among  the  ladies  of  the  village  and  the  surround 
ing  country  who  will,  if  you  please,  visit  you. 

Belle's  eyes  filled  with  tears.  She  extended 
as  many  of  her  fingers  as  she  could,  through  the 
aperture  of  the  door  to  the  minister,  who  grasped 
them  as  if  she  had  been  an  old  friend.  He  then 
gave  her  some  tracts,  and  prayed  with  her — pro 
mised  to  call  again  soon,  and  went  away. 

In  a  moment  or  two  after  he  left,  Belle  said : 

"Will  you  bring  the  lady  to  see  me  to-day?  " 


THE    PRISON.  2 

"Yes.     We  will  come  this  afternoon." 

"  I  shall  look  earnestly  for  you,  and  shall  count 
the  heavy  hours  as  they  pass,  until  you  and  the 
lady  shall  visit  me." 

"  Good-by,  Belle." 

"  Good-by.  I  thank  you  for  your  call,  and 
your  newspapers." 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 


THE   JAIL. 

THK  description  of  this  jail,  may  be  of  service 
to  the  reader.  It  was  a  brick  building  two 
stories  high,  with  its  front  to  the  east ;  built  ten 
or  twelve  feet  back  from  the  street.  Between  it 
and  the  street,  was  a  post-and-rail  fence;  and 
along  the  line  of  the  fence,  standing  ten  or  twelve 
feet  apart,  a  row  of  locust  trees.  The  entrance 
was  near  the  south  end  of  the  building.  That 
door  opened  into  the  room  occupied  by  the  jailer 
and  his  family  as  a  sitting-room.  At  the  south 
west  corner  of  that  room,  there  was  a  staircase 
that  led  to  the  second  story,  the  whole  of  which 
was  used  as  a  dwelling  by  the  jailer's  family. 

To  the  right  of  the  front  door,  and  near  it  as 
you  entered  the  house,  was  a  large  door  made  of 
very  heavy  iron  bars,  that  so  crossed  each  other,  as 
to  leave  apertures  of  diamond  shape  not  more  than 
an  inch  wide.  This  led  into  a  hall,  made  on  the 
one  side,  by  the  cast  wall  of  the  jail,  and  on  the 
other,  by  the  walls  of  the  ro;v  of  cells.  In  this  hall 
there  was  a  large  stove,  that  in  winter  warmed  all 

(  272  ^ 


THK    JAIL.  273 

the  cells.  The  hall  was  lighted  by  three  windows  in 
the  east  wall  of  the  jail,  all  of  which  were  crossed 
with  heavy  iron  bars.  The  door  that  led  from 
the  jailer's  room  into  the  hall,  was  fastened  by  a 
large  lock ;  then  by  an  iron  bar  of  great  weight, 
that  passed  from  one  corner  at  the  upper  part  of 
the  door,  to  the  lower  corner  on  the  opposite  side ; 
one  end  of  this  bar  had  a  hole  in  it,  which  passed 
into  an  iron  staple  that  seemed  to  have  been 
built  in  the  wall  itself;  the  other  end  was  fastened 
over  a  staple  by  a  lock.  In  addition  to  these, 
and  for  greater  security,  as  this  was  the  important 
door  of  the  prison,  it  was  fastened  by  a  padlock  and 
chain  which  passed  over  the  bar,  and  around  it,  and 
through  the  apertures  of  the  door.  No  one  had 
ever  escaped  from  the  prison,  by  means  o£  that 
door ;  some  had  cut  their  way  out,  after  weeks  of 
labor,  through  the  walls,  but  the  door  was  thought 
to  be  entirely  safe. 

Each  cell  had  to  it  an  iron  door,  with  no  other 
fastening  than  a  large  lock ;  these  doors  were 
made  of  bars,  which  crossed  each  other. 

The  three  windows  that  lighted  the  building  in 
the  east  wall,  were  each  about  two  feet  square. 

The  minister  made  a  remark  that  surprised 
me.  "I  have  visited,"  he  said,  "persons  in  these 
cells  for  twenty  years,  and  have  conversed  with 
hundreds  of  their  inmates.  The  prisoners  are 


274  BELLE    SCOTT. 

generally  young  persons — nearly  all  of  them  are 
either  the  children  or  grandchildren  of  rich  men. 
Education  alone,  by  which  I  mean,  learning  to 
read  and  write,  independent  of  moral  training,  does 
not  deter  men  from  crime.  Many  of  the  greatest 
criminals  I  have  met  with  have  been  educated 
and  even  talented  men." 

The  lady  alluded  to  by  Mr.  Reed,  in  his  con 
versation  with  Belle,  was  Mrs.  Johnston;  she  had 
heard  of  the  trial  and  of  the  interesting  young 
girl  who  had  been  committed  to  prison.  She 
wished  to  see  her,  and  with  Mr.  Reed  called  upon 
Belle  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day  just  mentioned.  Mrs,  Jackson's  seat 
was  opposite  the  door  of  the  hall,  where  she  could, 
while-  knitting  or  sewing,  see  through  the  aper 
tures  in  the  door  all  that  took  place  in  the  hall. 

Belle  received  Mrs.  Johnston  with  dignity  and 
cordiality.  She  said,  "that  with  the  exception 
of  the  jailer's  wife,  whose  domestic  cares  seemed 
fully  to  occupy  her  time,  yours  is  the  first  female 
face  I  have  seen  since  I  have  been  here.  Oh ! 
it  is  so  kind  in  you  to  come  to  see  me."  The 
conversation  at  first  was  a  little  constrained  on 
both  sides,  but  in  a  few  minutes  both  Belle 
and  Mrs.  Johnston  were  as  well  acquainted  as  if 
they  had  been  friends  for  years. 

We  were  both  seated  on  chairs  outside  the  door 


MRS.    JOHNSTON.  275 

of  the  cell.  During  this  conversation  Mr.  Reed 
had  a  better  opportunity  to  notice  Belle  carefully 
than  he  ever  had  before.  When  her  taper  fingers 
were  passed  around  the  bars  of  the  grate  so  as  to 
be  seen  with  distinctness,  he  carefully  looked  at 
the  roots  of  the  nails.  They  were  purely  and 
pearly  white,  not  a  shade  of  dusky  yellow,  the  last 
trace  of  African  blood,  could  be  seen. 

Mrs.  Johnston  said,  "  This  is  a  dull,  sad  place, 
are  you  not  afraid,  especially  at  night  ?' 

"  Oh  no !  dull  as  it  is,  and  sad  as  it  is,  it  is 
better,  and  I  feel  happier  here  than  I  did  when  I 
was  at  home." 

"  Why,  were  you  badly  treated  ?  " 

"•  If  you  mean  by  bad  treatment,  blows,  or  harsh 
words,  hard  tasks,  or  want  of  food,  clothing,  or  of 
rest,  or  of  mental  culture,  I  was  not  badly  treated. 
I  was  educated  with  his  daughter ;  we  learned 
music  and  ancient  and  modern  languages  together ; 
we  slept  in  the  same  room,  and  ate  our  meals 
generally  at  the  same  table ;  my  duties  were  but 
little  more  than  hers  ;  my  cares  perhaps  lighter. 
But,"  said  she,  rising  from  her  seat  and  standing- 
erect,  "if  you  mean  by  bad  treatment,  to  be 
deprived  of  the  social  companionship  of  my  equals ; 
and  above  all,  to  be  claimed  and  held  as  a  slave ; 
then-  I  was  badly  treated.  When  I  was  a  mere 
child  I  longed  to  be  free,  and  as  I  grew  up,  that 


276  liKLLE    SCOT!'. 

wish  became  a  passion.  All  my  hopes  of  earthly 
happiness,  are  concentrated  in  one  wish,  l  for  free 
dom.'  Without  it,  there  is  no  position  that  I 
have  ever  imaged,  in  which  I  could  be  happy. 
With  freedom,  and  the  bare  necessaries  of  life, 
such  as  I  am  sure  I  could  earn  by  my  own  exer 
tions,  I  should  be  happy  anywhere. 

"  Once,  when  I  was  quite  a  child,  I  visited  with 
our  family  a  collection  of  wild  beasts.  When  I 
saw  the  lions,  and  tigers,  and  bears,  and  leopards, 
all  pacing  their  cages  from  side  to  side,  I  loved 
them  intensely,  for  I  thought  that  their  hearts 
and  mine  beat  alike,  in  one  wild,  restless,  enduring- 
wish  for  freedom. 

"  And  even  now,  whenever  a  bird  flies  over  me, 
I  envy  the  little  creature  the  freedom  it  enjoys. 
I  have  sometimes  been  in  the  society  of  the  blind, 
of  the  dumb,  of  the  lame,  and  often  of  the  sick ; 
and  asked  myself  whether  my  condition,  with  the 
blessing  of  all  my  senses,  was  not  better  than 
theirs ;  but  I  am  sure  that  freedom  with  blindness, 
with  sickness,  with  any  calamity  to  which  our 
race  is  subject,  except  perhaps  insanity,  is  better 
than  perfect  health  in  slavery.  Oh !  I  can  from 
my  very  heart  of  hearts  say,  with  Patrick  Henry, 
'  Give  me  liberty,  or  give  me  death  ! ' 

She  sat  down  and  leaned  her  head  for  a 
moment  on  her  hrmd.  find  thon  looking  up  with  a 


MRS.    JOHNSTON.  277 

sweet  smile,  said :  "  Excuse,  madam,  if  you  blame 
my  love  for  freedom ;  it  is  the  first  time  I  have 
ever  dared  to  open  my  heart  to  a  human  being, 
upon  a  matter  that  has  preyed  as  fire  upon  it, 
all  my  life.  I  feel  better  now.  I  have  given 
utterance  to  thoughts  that  I  never  before  have 
had  freedom  enough  to  breathe  aloud ;  and  although 
in  jail,  I  have  greater  liberty  than  ever  I  enjoyed 
before.  It  makes  me  happy  to  talk  upon  the 
subject,  but  I  fear  I  weary  you  ?  " 

"  Not  at  all,  not  at  ah1,"  said  Mrs.  Johnston : 
"  I  could  listen  for  hours,  for  your  words  sink  into 
my  heart.  Oh !  if  I  could  only  do  something  to 
aid  you,  how  happy  it  would  make  me.  Will  not 
Mr.  Scott  sell  his  claim  to  you  ?  " 

"  I  am  sure  he  will  not.  I  have  often  heard 
him  say,  that  he  would  not  part  with  me  upon 
any  terms;  and  no  one  has  ever  even  dared 
to  make  such  a  proposition  to  him." 

"Do  you  think  you  will  be  free?"  inquired 
Mrs.  Johnston. 

"  I  do  not  know.  I  have  a  presentiment  that 
I  shall.  I  heard  the  argument  of  Mr.  Ives,  and  I 
am  sure  he  is  right ;  but  whether  the  judge  will 
so  determine,  of  course,  I  cannot  know.  When 
Mr.  Scott  first  talked  of  going  to  Virginia,  my 
own  heart  told  me,  that  by  some  means,  I  knew 
not  how,  my  freedom  would  be  the  result  of  that 


^8  BELLE    SCOTT. 

visit.  I  still  believe  it  as  firmly,  as  I  do  the 
words  of  inspiration.  It  has  always  seemed  as  a 
spirit  speaking  within  me,  and  assuring,  and  com 
forting  me.  It  was  that,  that  led  me  to  leave  the 
boat  at  the  first  opportunity.  If  I  reason  upon 
the  subject,  all  becomes  confused,  and  no  way 
seems  now  to  be  open;  but  when  I  sit  still  in  my 
cell,  or  lie  awake  at  night,  it  whispers — sometimes 
I  fancy  almost  audibly — and  assures  me,  that  I 
shall  soon  be  free.  And  I  love  the  silence  and 
solitude  of  this  jail,  for  that  very  reason.  It 
seems  as  if  I  am  not  alone,  but  that  another,  a 
purer  and  a  wiser  one,  is  with  me,  comforting  me 
with  new  hopes  and  assurances,  that  all  at  last 
will  be  well." 

Mrs.  Johnston  wiped  her  eyes  and  said,  "  Belle, 
I  am  sure  it  will  be  so.  I  can  no  more  tell  how 
than  you,  but  while  you  have  been  talking,  a  voice 
in  my  own  heart  has  whispered ;  she  will  be  free.'' 

"Good-by,  dear  Belle,  I  will  come  with  the 
minister  and  see  you  when  he  makes  his  morning 
visit  to  the  jail.  He  is  deeply  interested  in  your 
welfare,  and  since  he  was  here,  he  says  that  he 
can  neither  think  nor  talk  of  any  other  person 
than  you ;  and  the  solitude  that  you  so  much  love 
will,  I  am  sure,  be  sadly  disturbed  by  calls  from 
all  the  ladies  of  the  neighborhood." 

"  I  thank  (hem,  indeed,  for  their  sympathy.    It  is 


MRS.    JOHNSTON".  279 

wholly  unexpected,  and  I  fear,  undeserved,  but  it  is 
the  first  time  in  my  life  that  I  have  ever  been  so 
trea%l.  Oh !  affection  from  others,  is  at  all  times, 
the  warm  life-blood  of  a  woman's  heart;  and  when 
that  heart  has  been  dry  and  withered  from  child 
hood,  and  exposed  to  the  scorching  heat  of  slavery, 
it  is  more  precious  than  streams  of  living  water 
in  the  desert  to  the  traveler  who  is  perishing  with 
thirst." 

Mrs.  Johnston  said,  "  I  am  sure,  dear  girl,  you 
will  be  free.  We  have  a  nice  school-house  here, 
with  a  large  grassy  yard  and  a  swing  in  it.  We 
will  have  the  school-house  whitewashed  inside  and 
out  and  get  you  a  school,  and  you  must  live  here 
with  us  and  teach  the  children.  You  will  join 
our  church,  won't  you,  Belle  ?  and  be  a  member  of 
our  sewing  circle,  and  we  will  all  be  so  happy 
together." 

"You  forgot,"  said  Belle,  "that  I  am  called  a 
colored  person." 

"  Oh  I  did  forget  that  indeed,  and  now  that  it 
is  forgotten  I  will  try  and  never  remember  it  any 
more.  If  you  are  colored,  I  am  sure  that  you  are 
whiter  and  better  than  a  great  many  persons 
about  here  who  are  white.  What  church  do  you 
belong  to  ?" 

"  I  am  not  a  member  of  any  society  of  Chris 
tians.  The  churches  where  I  have  lived  have 


280  BELLE   SCOTT. 

presented  no  attractions  to  a  person  who  is 
claimed  as  a  slave.  I  have  wished  for  several 
years,  for  the  companionship  of  Christians  in 
church  fellowship,  but  have  been  so  situated  as 
not  to  have  it  in  my  power." 

Mrs.  Johnston  replied,  "Indeed  you  have 
suffered  a  great  loss — the  loss  of  the  highest 
pleasure  of  life — but  when  you  shall  be  discharged 
from  this  place  and  be  free,  then,  if  you  please,  we 
will  receive  you  with  open  arms,  for  I  am  sure 
from  your  very  countenance  that  you  are  a 
Christian — as  good  a  one  as  the  best  of  us." 

"  Good-by,  Belle,  I  will  see  you  in  the  morning. 
It  is  getting  quite  late  now  and  I  must  go.  I 
have  taken  leave  of  you  twice  already.  Put  your 
little  fingers  through  the  grate  again  and  let  me 
shake  them  once  more.  I  wish  I  could  kiss  you, 
but  these  bars  prevent  me.  It  is  not  the  first 
time  though  that  prison  bars  have  separated  per 
sons  who  love  each  other." 

Belle  extended  her  taper  fingers  through  the 
bars ;  Mrs.  Johnston  seized  them,  held  them  for  a 
minute,  and  wiping  her  eyes  departed.  As  wo 
passed  through  the  door  we  could  still  see  the 
little  fingers  shaking,  as  if  to  bid  us  farewell. 


CHAPTER      XXXVI. 


MBS.    JOHNSTON. 

MRS.  JOHNSTON  boarded  with  the  Rev.  Mr, 
Stillman,  the  minister  of  a  church  in  the  village. 
As  she  and  Mr.  Reed  walked  to  his  house,  she  said, 

"  Cannot  you  do  something  more  for  that  beauti 
ful  girl  ?  It  seems  to  me  very  strange  that  she 
should  be  in  a  jail !  She  is  not  accused  of  any 
crime,  and  she  owes  nothing  to  Mr.  Scott.  He 
is  her  debtor  for  the  work  she  has  done  for  him. 
I  thought  that  jails,  in  Ohio,  were  made  to  keep 
wrong-doers  in.  Mr.  Scott  ought  to  be  in  it — not 
Belle.  And  while  I  think  of  it,  how  does  it  hap 
pen  that  our  jail  here  is  made  a  slave-pen  ?  I 
have  often  read  descriptions  of  slave-pens,  but 
always  supposed,  till  now,  that  they  were  places 
far  away  from  us — at  least,  that  they  existed  only 
in  the  slave  states.  But  here  is  actually  a  slave- 
pen  in  our  village — and  I  am  part  owner  of  it  too — 
for  only  last  year  (she  said  it  with  a  sigh)  I  was 
heavily  taxed  on  my  property  to  help  build  it. 
I  have  been  told  that  James,  the  tavern-keeper, 
had  the  two  women  locked  up  in  a  room  in  his 

(281) 


282  BELLK    SCOTT. 

house,  and  kept  them  there  for  an  hour  or  two, 
till  the  warrant  could  be  made  out.  If  any  one  of 
my  tenants  should  permit  any  such  thing,  I  would 
turn  him  out  at  the  end  of  his  term,  and  never 
let  him  have  a  house  or  farm  of  mine  upon  any 
condition.  A  grog-shop  is  bad  enough,  and  they 
say  that  James  does  really  sell  liquor,  but  when 
in  addition  to  that,  the  tavern  is  made  a  slave-pen, 
it  is  a  nuisance,  and  the  tavern-keeper  who  does 
so,  should  not  be  licensed  again.1' 

The  beautiful  young  widow  was  quite  animated 
while  she  made  this  speech — and  stopping  for  a 
moment,  and  raising  one  finger  of  her  little  hand, 
she  said : 

"  Oh !  if  I  were  a  man,  I  would  soon  see  by 
what  authority,  we  people  in  Ohio  have  our  pro 
perty  taxed,  to  build  slave-pens  for  slaveholders ! 
I  would  soon  have  all  laws,  that  allow  such  out 
rages  upon  our  rights,  and  such  insults  to  our  prin 
ciples  and  feelings,  repealed." 

"But,  madam,"  said  Mr.  Reed,  "you  forget 
that  courtesy  to  our  sister  states  requires  us  to  — 

Mrs.  Johnston  interrupted  him :  "  Courtesy, 
courtesy  indeed,  to  keep  a  woman  in  jail !  at  the 
request  of  some  brute  of  a  man  who  claims  to  be 
her  owner !  So  then,  if  I  were  in  Kentucky,  and 
you  requested  somebody  to  put  me  in  jail,  courtesy, 
as  you  call  it,  would  require  that  I,  and  not  you, 


THE   SLAVE-PEN.  283 

should  be  imprisoned  ?  If  there  is  any  courtesy 
to  be  exercised  in  the  matter,  it  seems  to  me,  that 
it  would  be  better  to  seize  and  imprison  Mr. 
Scott,  and  not  the  poor  victim  of  his  wrongs." 

"  But  she  is  said  to  be  a  negress." 

Mrs.  Johnston :  "  She  is  not,  you  have  only 
to  look  in  her  face,  and  you  will  see  there  is  not 
one  word  of  truth  in  the  assertion.  Even  if  she 
is,  I  cannot  see  what  courtesy  there  can  be  in 
making  our  jails  the  prisons  of  a  race,  which,  of 
all  others,  has  been  most  deeply  wronged." 

The  next  day  nearly  all  the  men  left  the  vil 
lage  early  in  the  morning,  to  go  about  seven  miles 
in  the  country  to  hear  a  political  speech. 

Mr.  Wilbar,  the  blacksmith,  could  not  leave, 
"  because,"  he  said,  "  it  was  his  busiest  day  of  the 
week."  Two  or  three  storekeepers,  and  two  assist 
ants  remained ;  one  tavern-keeper,  a  carpenter, 
and  four  young  men,  his  apprentices  and  journey 
men  were,  with  Mr.  Reed,  all  the  men  who  did  not 
go  out  to  the  meeting. 

The  village  had  all  the  quietness  of  Sunday : 
the  wind  was  blowing  freshly  from  the  south-west, 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Mr.  Reed 
was  the  sole  occupant  of  the  printing-office.  As  he 
was  distributing  type  at  the  case,  he  thought  he 
heard  a  cry  of  fire !  he  paused  and  listened,  and 
again  in  a  shrill  voice,  as  of  a  woman  or  a  boy, 


284  BELLE     SCOTT. 

he  distinctly  heard  the  alarm,  Fire !  tire !  fire ! 
Without  waiting  to  put  on  his  coat,  or  to  roll  down 
his  sleeves,  he  sprang  down  the  stairs,  and  ran  as 
fast  as  he  could,  toward  the  black  column  of 
smoke  now  plainly  visible.  As  soon  as  he  turned 
a  corner,  he  saw  with  horror,  that  it  was  the  jail. 
The  wind  was  blowing  freshly,  directly  upon  the 
fiie,  which  spread  so  rapidly,  that  by  the  time  he 
reached  the  place,  the  whole  roof  was  in  a  blaze. 
Just  as  he  got  there,  a  little  son  of  the  jailer, 
about  four  years  old,  appeared  at  the  north-eastern 
window  of  the  building,  crying  for  help.  The 
stairs  were  already  on  fire ;  so  much  so,  that  it 
was  impossible  to  ascend  them.  The  only  means 
for  rescuing  the  child  was,  by  placing  a  ladder 
against  the  wall,  and  taking  him  from  the  window. 
The  flames  were  rolling  and  roaring  in  thick 
masses  all  along  the  roof,  on  both  sides,  and  the 
wind  was  blowing  the  fire  directly  in  the  faces  of 
those  who  tried  to  go  up  to  the  rescue.  No 
ladder  was  at  hand ;  not  a  moment  was  to  be 
lost.  The  carpenters  soon  brought  one,  and  two 
of  them,  one  after  the  other,  ascended  it  nearly 
to  the  window ;  but  just  as  they  reached  it,  a  gust 
of  wind  blew  down  thick  masses  of  flame  and 
smoke,  and  they  were  driven  back.  The  boy 
had  now  fallen  upon  the  floor,  and  was  suffocating. 
The  intense  agony  of  the  mother,  who  stood  below, 


THE    FIRE.  285 

struggling  to  release  herself  from  those  who  pre 
vented  her  from  climbing  the  ladder — her  shrieks — 
her  agonizing  prayers,  her  entreaties  to  the  men 
to  save,  oh,  save  her  son !  the  groans,  and  cries 
of  the  women  of  the  village,  all  of  whom  were 
there,  and  in  tears ;  some  wringing  their  hands, 
others  praying  aloud,  others  running  to  and  fro 
and  calling  for  help,  presented  a  scene  full  of  awe 
and  horror. 

Three  efforts  were  made  to  reach  the  window, 
and  at  each  time  the  ascending  persons  were 
thrown  back  by  the  rushing,  whirling,  devouring 
fire.  The  smoke  rolled  down  in  masses,  black, 
and  thick,  and  hot ;  and  amid  it  large  flakes  of 
fire  were  whirled  by  the  wind  in  all  directions. 
A  shout  was  heard,  "  Stand  back,  men !  the  roof 
is  reeling,  and  will  fall;  "  and  all  the  crowd,  except 
those  who  held  the  half  frantic  mother,  rushed  to 
the  opposite  side  of  the  street.  In  an  instant  a 
lad  (a  young  carpenter)  ascended  the  ladder  with 
a  hatchet  in  his  hand ;  the  wind  for  a  moment 
had  blown  the  flame  away  from  the  window ;  with 
one  crash  the  sash  was  driven  in ;  he  disappeared 
for  a  second,  amid  the  smoke,  and  then  he  was 
seen  descending  the  ladder  with  the  boy,  who 
hung  as  if  dead,  in  his  arms,  both  with  their 
clothing  all  on  fire.  A  loud  shout  from  the 
whole  crowd,  rang  out.  Mrs.  Jackson  rushed  to 

24 


286  BELLE   SCOTT. 

the  ladder,  and  before  the  young  man  had  reached 
its  foot,  she  clasped  her  child  in  her  arms. 

Just  then  Mr.  Reed  inquired :  "  Where  are  the 
prisoners  ? "  and  one  loud  shout  went  up  from  all 
the  men  and  women  there — "  The  prisoners — the 
prisoners  are  burning  to  death !' '  A  man  ran  to  Mrs. 
Jackson,  and  shaking  her  by  the  shoulder,  asked, 
"  Where  are  the  keys  ?  "  Mrs.  Jackson  looked 
wildly  at  him,  and  then  hugged  her  unconscious 
boy  to  her  bosom.  "  The  keys ! — the  keys,  Mrs. 
Jackson — the  keys  of  the  jail,  where  are  they  ?  " 

"  Oh !  thank  God  my  child  is  not  burnt  up — 
he  is  scorched  badly — but  he  will  not  die — Oh ! 
no,  he  will  not  die,  thank  God  ! — thank  God  he  is 
safe." 

"  The  keys ! — the  keys ! — where  are  the  keys  of 
the  prison,  Mrs.  Jackson  ?  the  prisoners  will  burn 
up."  She  still  looked  in  a  bewildered  manner  at 
the  speaker,  and  again  pressed  her  boy  to  her  bosom, 
and  kissed  his  blackened  and  blistered  forehead. 

"  Oh !  he  breathes — he  breathes ! — I  feel  his 
little  heart  beat.  Henry — my  Henry  is  not  dead  ! 
the  poor  boy  is  badly  hurt ;  but  he  will  get  well ; "' 
and  she  rocked  herself  to  and  fro,  and  gazed 
fondly  on  the  face  of  her  son. 

"  She  has  lost  her  reason  for  a  time,"  said  Mr. 
Wilbar ;  "  we  have  no  time  to  lose  ;  come,  men — 
come,  come — who  will  follow  me?"  he  shouted. 


THE    FIRE.  287 

(i  We  must  save  the  prisoners !  "  Some  men  ran 
in  to  search  for  the  keys,  and  returned,  saying, 
"  the}'  could  not  find  them."  While  they  were 
gone,  Mr.  Wilbar  and  others  threw  down  a  panel 
of  the  fence,  and  tore  from  the  ground  one  of  the 
large  posts.  Into  the  holes,  mortised  for  rails, 
they  put  three  handspikes,  and  as  many  men  as 
could  hold  them,  rushed  with  the  post  into  the 
jail.  At  the  first  blow  they  surged  upon  the  iron 
door,  a  shriek  was  heard  from  the  crowd  out 
side — a  cry  that  the  rafters  were  falling — and  a 
shower  of  fire,  ashes,  and  dust,  filled  the  house. 
They  still,  with  heavy  surges,  thundered  their  bat 
tering-ram  against  the  door,  till  a  crash  was  heard — 
the  house  was  more  full  of  fire  and  smoke  than 
before,  and  the  men  all  dropped  the  post  and  ran 
out.  Part  of  the  west  side  of  the  roof,  shaken  by 
the  assault  upon  the  door,  had  fallen  in,  and  the 
flames  rose  and  swept  with  redoubled  fury  over 
the  building.  All  the  windows  in  the  second  story 
were  now  filled  with  flame.  Mr.  Wilbar  paused 
but  for  a  moment,  and  then  shouted.  "Back 
men — come  back !  one  more  blow  and  the  door 
will  be  opened.  The  prisoners  are  not  dead  yet. 
We  can  save  them,  and  they  must  be  saved.'' 
Half-a-dozen  men  again  rushed  with  him  into 
the  building,  and  again  the  blows  of  the  battering- 
rain  thundered  against  the  door;  but  the  cries 


288  BELLE    SCOTT. 

outside,  were  now  louder  than  before ;  the  roof 
cracks — it  reels — it  is  just  about  to  fall;  come 
out — come  out,  you  will  be  burned  in  an  instant." 

Again  all  rushed  out ;  two  of  the  party,  over 
powered  by  the  heat,  fell  in  the  street  and  were 
carried  to  the  sidewalk ;  others  were  on  fire,  and 
water  was  thrown  over  them.  After  a  moment's 
pause — an  instant  of  apparent  indecision — Mr. 
Wilbar  again  called,  "  Come  back — come  back ! 
we  must  save  them — we  can — we  must ! "  and 
rushed  again  into  the  building. 

Three  only  followed  him  now :  again  they  seized 
the  post,  and  again,  with  all  their  force,  heaved 
another  blow  upon  the  iron  grate.  It  shook — 
the  whole  house  shook ;  there  was  a  louder  shout 
without — a  whirl ! — a  rushing  sound  ! — a  shower 
of  living  coals !  and  with  a  crash  that  seemed 
loud  as  an  earthquake,  the  whole  roof  fell  in ! 

Mr.  Reed  did  not  know  how  he  got  out.  He 
was  stunned  and  unconscious  for  a  moment,  and 
was  roused  by  hearing  Mr.  Wilbar  calling  out 
again  louder  than  before,  "  Come  on,  men — come 
on !  the  greatest  danger  is  now  over ;  one  more 
blow,  and  the  door  will  be  forced." 

No  one  as  yet  moved  :  "  Come,  men,  for  the 
love  of  God  come  !  if  they  were  your  brothers  or 
your  sisters,  would  you  not  l»elp  to  the  very 
last?" 


THE    FIRE.  289 

Just  then  some  of  the  men  who  had  been  in 
the  country,  rode  up  at  full  speed.  In  an  instant 
the  post  was  again  manned,  and  with  the  first 
surge  the  door  flew  open.  Mrs.  Jackson  had  now 
recovered  her  presence  of  mind ;  she  was  again, 
by  twenty  voices  at  once,  asked  for  the  keys: 
she  seemed  abstracted  for  a  moment,  and  then 
said : 

"I  have  forgotten  where  I  put  them."  She 
prayed,  Oh  God !  my  God  !  enable  me  to  remem 
ber  where  I  have  placed  the  keys ;  then  rising, 
she  seized  an  old  carpet  that  lay  near  her, — 
plunged  it  into  a  bucket  of  water,  and  wrapping 
it  round  her  person,  walked  into  the  burning 
jail;  got  the  keys,  and  placed  them  in  Mr. 
Wilbar's  hand,  just  as  the  door  of  the  hall  was 
burst  open.  The  door  of  a  cell  in  which  two 
boys  were,  was  unlocked  in  an  instant,  and  then 
the  cell  of  Belle.  All  was  darkness,  and  smoke, 
and  stifling,  roasting  heat  within  it. 

Mr.  Reed  stumbled  over  her  prostrate  form, 
lying  at  the  side  of  the  door;  he  seized  her  in 
his  arms :  at  that  instant  his  head  seemed  to 
burst  out  to  double  its  usual  size ;  his  eyeballs 
appeared  as  coals  of  living  fire ;  his  ears  rang 
with  a  hissing,  singing  noise ;  his  lungs  seemed  to 
be  all  in  flame :  he  groped  his  way,  feeling  in  the 
dark ;  something  obstructed  his  passage  j  he 


290  BELLE   SCOTT. 

knew  not  what  it  was ;  he  pressed  the  still  form 
of  Belle  closely,  and  reeled,  and  stumbled; 
a  hand  grasped  him — he  heard  the  voice  of 
Wilbar — he  was  on  his  feet;  he  heard  a  loud 
shout,  as  he  passed  the  door,  and  amid  flame, 
and  dust  and  smoke,  he  fell !  Water  was  dashed 
on  him,,  and  for  a  moment  he  was  conscious  that 
he  was  sitting  on  the  pavement,  with  a  crowd  of 
women  and  men  around  him.  A  boy  taken  from 
the  jail,  was  stretched  apparently  dead  upon  the 
pavement;  another  was  in  a  sitting  posture, 
crying,  "  Oh,  mother !  oh,  mother !  Oh,  Lord  ! 
oh,  Lord !  to  be  burned  to  death !  Indeed  I  am 
innocent  of  this  crime." 

Groups  of  women  were  around  them,  fanning 
them,  and  pouring  water  on  them.  Mr.  Reed 
again  sank  down,  unconscious  of  all  around  him. 


CHAPTER     XXXVII. 


EDGAR    REED. 


SOON  afterward  the  only  consciousness  he  had 
was  a  sense,  a  dull,  dreamy,  constant  sense  of  pain. 
He  seemed  to  be  roasting  at  a  slow  fire ;  at  inter 
vals  it  would  blaze  up,  and  then  he  would  roll  as 
in  a  sea  of  flame.  His  brain,  and  the  very  marrow 
of  his  bones  seemed  to  be  masses  of  red-hot  iron. 
By  degrees  it  slowly  subsided,  and  then  he  thought 
he  was  struggling  through  thorns  that  tore  his 
flesh  at  each  step,  and  incessantly  stung  him  from 
head  to  foot. 

One  day  he  awakened  as  from  a  dream,  and 
found  himself  in  a  neat  and  well-furnished  apart 
ment,  lying  upon  a  bed  as  white  as  snow,  and  a 
lady — a  stranger  to  him — sitting  by  his  bedside, 
with  a  young  child  in  her  lap,  and  some  sewing  in 
her  hands.  As  he  looked  at  her  she  seemed  sur 
prised,  and  then  with  a  smile,  said  : 

"  You  have  had  a  refreshing  sleep,  and  are  now 
much  better." 

<•'  Where  am  I  ?  " 

"You  are  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Stillman,  the 

(291) 


292  BELLK    SCOTT. 

minister.  When  you  were  hurt,  we  had  both  you 
and  Belle  brought  here,  and  I  am  very  glad  to 
find  you  so  much  better." 

"How  long  have  I  been  here  ?  " 

"  This  is  now  the  morning  of  the  third  day  since 
the  fire — you  have  been  insensible  till  now." 

She  left  the  room,  and  presently  returned  with 
Mrs.  Johnston.  This  lady  looked  pale  and  care 
worn. 

She  came  to  his  bedside,  and  stooping  over 
him,  inquired  if  he  was  not  much  better.  "You 
must  not  talk  yet,"  said  she, "  but  must  be  as  quiet 
as  possible,  until  you  obtain  permission  from  us 
to  satisfy  your  curiosity.  Airs.  Stillmau  is  your 
nurse,  and  I  am  the  nurse  of  poor  Belle." 

"How  is  Belle?" 

"  Oh  !  you  must  not  say  a  word.  Be  still.  I 
will  sit  down,  and  if  I  think  you  able  to  bear  it, 
will  tell  you  the  whole  story.  (She  sat  down.)  I 
was  at  the  fire  before  you  got  there.  I  had  no 
hope  for  Belle's  escape,  and  believed  that  in  half 
an  hour  she  would  be  burnt  to  death.  I  never 
had  such  horrible  feelings.  I  could  not  live,  1 
think,  through  another  such  trial. 

"  When  the  great  iron  gate  was  broken  open, 
;md  the  two  lads  were  brought  out,  I  knew  that 
you  would  not  return  without  Belle.  It  seemed 
as  if  you  were  in  there  half  :m  hour,  but  I  have 


EDGAR    REED.  293 

been  assured  it  was  not  more  than  two  minutes. 
Just  as  you  left  the  cell  with  Belle  in  your  arms, 
the  sleepers  of  the  second  floor,  and  part  of  the 
floor  itself,  fell  between  you  and  the  iron  door. 
A  part  of  it  struck  you  on  the  head,  and  you  fell. 
All  outside  were  for  an  instant  appalled,  and  gave 
both  of  you  up  as  lost,  when  the  brave  and 
generous  Mr.  Wilbar  wrapped  himself  in  a  wet 
blanket,  although  he  was  already  badly  burned, 
and  scarcely  able  to  walk,  and  went  right  into  the 
blazing  fire  and  brought  both  of  you  out.  You 
walked  out  while  he  held  your  hand — but  fell  as 
soon  as  you  got  outside  the  door.  Both  you  and 
Belle  were  carried  over  to  the  pavement,  and 
water  thrown  upon  you ;  you  revived  for  a  moment, 
and  then  swooned  away.  We  then  brought  both 
of  you  here,  and  have  nursed  you  ever  since. 
The  neighbors,  especially  the  young  men  from  the 
two  printing-offices,  have  been  very  kind  to  you,  and 
we  have  always  had  more  persons  offer  to  sit  up  with 
you  than  would  have  been  enough  to  attend  five 
sick  men.  The  doctor  says  that  none  of  your 
bones  are  broken,  though  you  are  badly  bruised, 
and  have  been  burnt,  but  not  so  as  to  disfigure 
you.  Oh  yes !  you  will  be  able  to  sit  up  this 
afternoon,  and  walk  across  the  room  to-morrow, 
if  you  only  take  care  of  yourself,  and  not  be  rest 
less  and  talk." 

25 


294  BELLE   SCOTT. 

"How  is  Belle?" 

"I  have  just  told  you,  that  you  must  not  talk — 
we  will  do  all  the  talking.  Two  women,  I  think, 
can  do  enough  of  that.  Belle  is  better ;  she  fainted 
very  soon,  and  the  doctor — Dr.  Williams,  do  you 
know  him  ?  he  is  a  very  skillful  and  attentive 
physician — says,  that  was  of  great  benefit  to  her 
and  prevented  her  from  inhaling  the  hot  air; 
which,  he  says,  might  have  killed  her.  She  was 
more  hurt  by  the  falling  of  the  floor  than  you, 
but  is  not  so  badly  burned  as  you  are.  The  doctor 
says,  that  a  great  part  of  your  hurts  have  been 
caused  by  over  exertion  in  beating  the  door  open. 
Mr.  Wilbar  and  two  other  men  have  been  confined 
to  their  beds,  principally  from  the  same  cause,  ever 
since;  and  nearly  every  one  of  the  men,  and 
several  of  the  women  who  were  at  the  fire,  have 
been  unable  to  attend  to  their  business.  It  was 
an  awful  time,  and  we  thank  God  that  no  lives 
were  lost,  while  at  one  time,  when  the  roof  fell  in, 
it  really  seemed  as  if  all  the  prisoners,  and  six  or 
seven  men  had  perished. 

"  Belle  is  able  to  sit  up  in  an  arm-chair.  As  yet, 
the  Doctor  allows  her  to  talk  but  little.  But  you 
know  that  you  cannot  keep  a  woman's  tongue 
entirely  still,  and  she  will  talk  in  spite  of  all  that 
we  can  do  to  prevent  her.  She  was  just  inquir 
ing  for  you,  when  Mrs.  Stillman  came  in  and  told 


MRS.    JOHNSTON.  295 

us,  you  were  awake,  and  sensible  of  what  is 
passing  around  you.  In  a  few  days,  both  of  you 
will,  I  hope,  be  well  again.  You  are  a  brave  man, 
and  saved  that  poor  girl's  life ;  and  the  whole 
country  is  praising  the  bravery  and  generalship 
of  Mr.  Wilbar.  No  one  expected  it  of  him,  or 
thought  that  he  was  more  than  an  ordinary  man ; 
but  the  occasion  brought  out  his  energies,  and 
has  shown  that  he  is  a  hero." 

They  recovered  rapidly.  Still,  neither  of  them 
were  able  to  leave  their  respective  rooms.  Great 
solicitude  existed  in  the  minds  of  all  of  Mr.  Still- 
man's  family,  and  of  Mr.  Reed,  for  the  fate  of 
poor  Belle.  What  would  be  the  decision  of  the 
commissioner?  Could  he  appreciate  the  argu 
ment  of  Mr.  Ives  ?  Even  if  he  did  so,  had  he 
nerve  enough,  in  opposition  to  wide-spread  public 
opinion,  to  discharge  his  duty?  or  would  he 
decide  the  case  against  her,  and  shield  himself 
from  perhaps  the  upbraidings  of  his  own  con 
science,  and  the  censure  of  the  best  of  the 
community,  by  appealing  to  the  authority  of 
superior  judges? 

"  If  the  case  should  be  decided  against  Belle, 
what/'  said  Mrs.  Stillman,  "do  you  think  Mr. 
Scott  will  do  with  her  ?  He  is  no  doubt  irritated, 
perhaps  very  angry  at  the  attempt  of  Belle  to 
escape.  She  says,  that  his  prevailing  vice  is 


296  BELLE    SCOTT. 

avarice;  and  it  is  reported  in  the  village,  but  I 
really  do  not  know  upon  what  authority,  that  Mr- 
Scott  said,  as  he  was  leaving  the  place, '  that  he 
would  have  to  sell  her,  to  pay  the  exorbitant 
fees  of  his  attorneys  in  the  case.'  Do  you  think, 
if  she  should  still  be  sick,  when  the  ten  weeks  are 
out,  that  he  will  force  her  away  from  us,  and  sell 
her  ?  Mr.  Stillman  became  her  bail  in  two  thou 
sand  dollars,  for  her  appearance  and  re-delivery  on 
the  day  when  the  decision  shall  be  made.  Would 
it  not  be  better  to  forfeit  the  bail,  although  it 
would  utterly  ruin  us  as  to  this  world,  than  even 
to  run  the  risk  of  her  returning  to  slavery  ?  " 

Mrs.  Johnston  said,  "  For  my  part,  if  I  were  in 
her  place,  I  would  run  away  again ;  and  if  I  could 
not  run  off,  I  would  creep  off.  She  says,  she 
would  rather  have  been  burned  to  death,  than 
return,  even  to  the  slavery  that  has  been  her  lot. 
If  she  should  go,  and  Mr.  Stillman  loses  anything 
by  it,  he  has  friends  who,  perhaps,  will  see  that  he 
shall  not  be  ruined." 

Two  days  after  this  conversation,  the  folding- 
doors  that  separated  the  parlors  in  which  Belle 
and  Mr.  Reed  respectively  were,  were  thrown 
open — the  blinds  of  the  windows  withdrawn,  as 
Mr.  Heed's  weakened  eyes  could  now  endure  the 
light — and  Belle,  seated  in  a  large  arm-chair  on 
castors,  was  brought  into  his  room.  He  had  told 


MRS.    JOHNSTON.  297 

Mrs.  Stillman  and  Mrs.  Johnston  detached  parts 
of  his  adventure  on  the  island,  and  they  had 
repeated  them  to  Belle.  He  was  now  to  relate 
the  scene  of  Aaron's  death ;  and  she  was  brought 
in,  to  hear  it  directly  from  himself. 

When  he  told  them  that  Aaron  gave  him  his 
Bible,  all  three  spoke  out  at  once :  "  Let  us  see 
that  Bible  ?"  He  replied,  "  It  is  in  one  of  my 
trunks  at  the  tavern." 

"  Your  trunks  are  all  here,"  said  Mrs.  Stillman, 
"  Mrs.  Johnston  ordered  them  to  be  brought  here 
on  the  day  of  the  fire."  Mrs.  Johnston  blushed 
slightly.  He  told  them  in  which  trunk  it  was. 
The  book  was  soon  produced  and  eagerly  examined. 

"  What  is  this  writing  on  the  blank  leaves  of 
the  book?"  Said  Mrs,  Johnston,  "it  is  even 
worse  than  that  of  Mr.  Peters,  my  lawyer.  Did 
you  ever  see  such  a  scrawl  ?  It  must  be  poetry, 
too,  for  I  see  that  every  line  begins  with  what  is 
meant  for  a  capital  letter,  and  all  the  words  run 
together."  She  examined  it  with  care,  leaf  by 
leaf,  and  then  said,  "  I  can  here  and  there  make 
out  a  word,  but  not  enough  even  to  conjecture  the 
meaning."  Mrs.  Stillman  examined  it  with  no 
better  success.  She  could  decipher  some  words 
that  Mrs.  Johnston  could  not. 

"  What  did  Aaron  tell  you  this  was  ?  "  she 
inquired.  Mr.  Reed  told  her  Aaron  said  it 


298  BELLE   SCOTT. 

was  a  statement  of  his  wife,  written  down  by 
himself  just  before  her  death,  in  relation  to  the 
murder  of  a  child  for  which  she  had  been  sold. 
Mr.  Reed  was  lying,  at  the  time,  on  a  sofa ;  Belle 
was  near  him  in  the  chair,  when  the  book  was 
handed  to  her.  "I  have  been  accustomed,"  she 
said,  "  to  such  writing ;  the  slaves  on  the  planta 
tion  frequently  got  me  to  write  letters  for  them 
and  to  read  theirs.  Bring  me,  if  you  please  a 
pencil  and  a  sheet  of  paper  and  I  will  try  to  read 
it;  I  think  I  can  easily  do  so." 

They  were  handed  to  her  and  she  began,  "  This 
here  child  that  I  am  'cused  of  killin'  I  never  did 
at  all.  I  nursed  it  several  months,  and  how  could 
I  kill  it,  for  I  loved  it  ?  and  my  child  was  only  six 
months  older  than  this  one.  I  put  both  children 
together — my  child  and  this  child — in  one  bed 
and  went  down  stairs  to  supper ;  when  I  cum  back 
it  was  gone  and  my  child  was  asleep  where  I  left  it. 

"  I  don't  believe  this  here  child  is  dead  at  all. 
I  believe  she  is  alive  yet,  and  has  been  tuk  some 
where.  Missus  cum  to  me  in  jail  and  begged  me 
to  tell  her  all  that  I  knowed  about  it.  I  told  her 
that  I  knowed  nothing  at  all  about  it — nor  more  I 
did.  I  never  did  kill  that  child  in  my  life,  nor 
anybody  else's  child;  and  I  have  been  unjustly 
dealt  by  in  the  selling  me  away  off  into  this  wild 
country,  among  sich  people  as  is  here." 


THE   DISCOVERY.  299 

"  Bravo !  Belle,"  said  Mrs.  Johnston,  "you  ought 
to  go  to  Nineveh  and  help  Layard,  or  to  Egypt 
and  decipher  the  hieroglyphics  there." 

'•'Go  on,"  said  Mrs.  Stillman,  "I  feared,  when 
you  began,  that  it  was  a  confession  of  murder, 
and  I  am  now  relieved." 

Belle  smiled  and  proceeded.  "  This  here  child  I 
nursed  a  good  while.  (She  has  put  that  down 
twice  said  Mrs.  Johnston,  it  must  be  true.)  It 
had  a  mark  as  big  as  a  cherry,  and  of  a  whitish 
red  on  its  left  arm,  just  at  the  elbow." 

Belle's  pale  cheeks  turned  paler.  "That  is 
strange,"  she  said ;  and  rolling  up  the  sleeve  of  her 
dress,  showed  a  mark  on  her  arm  exactly  like  the 
one  described.  The  ladies  carefully  examined  it, 
and  looked  over  Belle's  shoulder  as  she  found  out 
the  several  letters,  so  that  they  could  see  them 
for  themselves, 

"  Go  on,  Belle — go  on,"  said  the  impatient  little 
widow,  Mrs.  Johnston :  "  she  had  a  mole  on  her 
upper  lip,  near  the  corner  of  her  mouth,  and  about 
half  an  inch  above  it."  Both  the  ladies  exclaimed : 

"  Why  so  have  you,  Belle,  just  such  a  mole,  and 
just  where  it  is  said  to  be  !  " 

Poor  Belle  turned  still  paler,  and  her  trembling 
hand  was  scarcely  able  to  trace  the  letters ;  her 
eyes,  too,  were  dimmed  with  tears.  Mrs.  Stillman 
v,as  composed.  Mrs.  Johnston  changed  her  seat 


300  BELLE    SCOTT. 

several  times,  and  finally  stood  up  again  and 
looked  over  Belle's  shoulder. 

"Go  on,"  said  she,  "let  us  have  it  all  as  soon 
as  possible."  "  She  had  three  moles  on  the  right 
side  of  her  neck  below  her  right  ear,  and  they 
were  so  that  they  looked  like  a  little  flatiron." 
The  pencil  dropped  from  Belle's  hand — she  had 
fainted.  Without  attempting  to  revive  her  Mrs. 
Johnston  ran  to  the  side  of  her  neck,  and  there 
was  the  triangle  described.  Was  she  the  lost 
child  of  Mr.  Scott  ? — the  niece  of  the  man  who 
claimed  to  be  her  master? — the  heiress  of  the 
large  estate  he  had  gone  on  to  inherit?  There 
was  another  passage  in  the  book,  but  it  was  so 
obliterated  that  no  one  could  decipher  it. 

Mrs.  Johnston,  without  waiting  even  to  tell 
what  she  was  about  to  do,  put  on  her  bonnet  and 
went  directly  to  the  house  of  the  commissioner. 
She  soon  returned  with  her  brow  knit,  and  her 
bright  blue  eyes  flashing  with  anger :  without 
taking  off  her  bonnet,  she  seated  herself  and 
said : 

"Don't  you  think  that,  after  my  trouble  in 
going  to  see  that  man,  I  have  come  back  without 
any  paper  by  which  Belle  can  be  released.  He 
would  not  even  read  the  book  which  I  took  with 
me,  though  I  assured  him  that  now,  when  we  knew 
what  the  writing  was  about,  it  was  easy  to  read  it. 


MRS.   JOHNSTON.  301 

When  I  found  that,  with  all  that  I  could  do,  he 
would  not  read  a  word  of  it,  or  even  look  at  it,  I 
told  him  all  that  has  just  occurred,  and  how  cer 
tainly  her  identity,  as  the  lost  child  of  Mr.  Scott's 
brother,  is  established.  He  did  not  want  to  hear 
even  that,  but  I  made  him  listen ;  and  when  I 
got  through  and  asked  him  if  he  had  now  any 
doubt  about  the  matter,  he  would  not  answer  my 
question.  I  asked  him  to  let  Belle  go  free  at  once, 
but  he  promptly  refused.  All  that  I  could  get 
him  to  promise  was,  that  if  Mr.  Scott's  lawyer 
consented  to  his  reading  this  writing,  and  examin 
ing  the  marks  on  Belle,  he  would  do  so.  A  pretty 
judge,  indeed,  who  won't  look  into  the  truth  unless 
the  person  whose  interest  is  opposed  to  his  know 
ing  it,  will  let  him !  If  we  women  only  had  the 
making  of  laws  for  a  day,  we  would  soon  sweep 
away  all  these  follies.  But  you  ivise  men  have 
the  power,  and  use  it  to  suit  yourselves. 

This  discovery  seemed  to  have  almost  wrought 
a  cure  upon  both  Belle  and  Mr.  Reed. 

Within  a  day  afterward,  Mr.  Reed  was  able 
to  walk  across  the  room,  with  the  aid  of  a  cane. 
The  news  soon  spread  through  the  village,  and 
in  the  evening  Mr.  Herbert,  the  chaplain  of  the 
jail ;  Mr.  Wilbar,  the  blacksmith,  and  many  others 
were  seated  in  Mr.  Stillman's  parlor.  The  marks 
were  examined,  and  each,  now  that  the  context 


BELLE   SCOTT. 

was  known,  could  read  the  scrawl  in  the  book. 
No  one  doubted  but  that  Belle  was  the  identical 
person  described  in  the  writing ;  and  that  writing 
had  upon  it  such  evidences  of  its  antiquity,  and 
even  of  its  genuineness,  that  none  were  able  to 
doubt  the  statements. 

But  what  was  next  to  be  done,  was  the  great 
question  of  the  evening  ?  A  dispatch  was  sent  by 
the  telegraph,  to  a  lawyer  in  Willoughby,  stating 
that  the  lost  child  of  Mr.  Scott,  was  found,  and 
employing  him  to  act  as  her  counsel.  They  then 
wrote  a  full  statement  of  the  whole  affair,  and 
sent  it  to  him  by  mail.  Mr.  Reed  suggested, 
"that  some  one  should  go  immediately  to  New 
Orleans,  and  begin  to  search  for  evidence  of  Belle's 
identity  at  that  place,  and  employ  suitable  agents 
there,  to  prosecute  the  search ;  and  then  go  on  to 
Willoughby,  and  commence  similar  inquiries  there ; 
and  in  the  meantime,  to  write  fully  to  the  lawyer 
at  Willoughby,  and  urge  him  to  make  inquiries 
into  the  matter,  with  all  possible  diligence." 

Mrs.  Stillman  said,  "  There  was  not  sufficient 
time,  to  go  both  to  New  Orleans  and  Willoughby, 
before  the  time  set  by  the  commissioner  for  his 
decision  of  the  case,  would  expire." 

Mr.  Stillman  said  in  reply,  "Now,  that  God 
has  begun  this  good  work,  He  will  carry  it  on  to 
the  end  :  this  discovery  is  providential." 


MRS.    JOHNSTON.  303 

Mrs.  Johnston  said  to  Mr.  Reed,  "I  am  sure 
you  can  succeed  in  establishing  her  right.  After 
the  perils  you  have  encountered  to  save  her  life, 
and  your  success  in  that,  I  am  sure  that  you  can 
if  you  will,  do  what  is  needed  in  her  behalf;  but 
you  are  too  weak  yet  to  travel,  and  must  not 
think  of  it ;  some  other  person  must  go,  till  you 
get  well  enough  to  attend  to  it." 

Mr.  Reed  thanked  her,  and  told  her,  "  that  he 
had  made  up  his  mind,  to  start  with  the  first 
descending  boat  to  New  Orleans ;  and  would  go  at 
all  hazards,  even  if  the  boat  passed  down  that 
night.  That  his  health  was  such,  that  he  could 
not  labor,  and  the  journey,  he  was  sure,  would 
restore  him. 

Belle  said  nothing;  but  her  look — one  long, 
earnest  look — told  me  more  distinctly  than  any 
language  could,  how  full  her  heart  was  of  gratitude. 

Mr.  Reed's  trunks  were  already  packed ;  and 
early  the  next  morning,  the  sound  of  a  boat  was 
heard  round  a  bend  in  the  river.  He  was  carried 
to  the  landing  on  a  settee,  by  Mr.  Stillman  and 
others,  and  was  soon  on  board.  In  a  few  minutes, 
he  was  on  his  journey.  By  the  time  he  arrived 
at  New  Orleans,  he  was  almost  well ;  Mr.  Stillman 
had  imparted  to  him  a  large  share  of  his  confi 
dence  in  the  result  of  his  mission.  He  could  not 
doubt,  but  that  he  would  succeed. 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 


EDGAR    REED. 

THE  first  person,  and  indeed,  the  only  one  he 
looked  for,  after  he  reached  his  former  boarding- 
house,  in  New  Orleans,  was  Captain  Carter,  who 
had  changed  his  boarding  place,  and  the  landlady 
could  not  tell  where  he  could  be  found.  Mr.  Reed 
knew  a  cafe,  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  visiting. 
Early  in  the  evening  he  went  there,  and  seated 
himself  in  one  of  the  boxes,  with  a  broiled  bird 
before  him.  In  a  few  minutes  two  gentlemen 
came  in.  One  of  the  gentlemen  ordered  refresh 
ment.  Mr.  Reed  did  not  know  his  voice.  In  a 
little  while  he  could  not  but  overhear  the  words : 

"When  I  was  a  boy,  I  shot  four  deer  one  morning, 
near  Little  Egg  Harbor,  in  Jersey,  and  I  will  tell 
you  how  it  was."  Of  course  it  was  his  old  friend, 
Captain  Carter.  As  soon  as  he  had  inquired  after 
Mr.  Reed's  health,  and  before  he  had  time  to 
reply,  he  said : 

"  How  many  deer  did  you  kill  on  your  hunting 
excursion  ?  you  staid  longer  than  you  expected ; 
what  luck  had  you  ?  " 

"  Do  you  remember,  captain,  that  you  promised 

(304) 


CAPTAIN    CARTER.  305 

to  eat  all  the  deer  that  I  killed?  Well  now, 
prepare  to  keep  your  promise.  I  killed  seven, 
and  wounded  several  others. 

"  Where  are  your  deer  ?  let  me  see  them.  You 
know  that  I  am  a  man  of  my  word ;  I  will  eat  the 
whole  of  them,  only  you  must  let  me  take  my 
time  to  do  it.  I  did  not  say  how  soon  I  would  do 
it.  And  then  looking  archly,  he  said  :  "  You  don't 
expect  me  to  eat  the  wounded  ones,  do  you  ?  " 

"  Oh !  no,"  not  until  I  bring  them  to  you. 

"  Come,  show  me  the  deer ;  it  does  me  good 
to  look  at  a  lot  of  good  venison,  even  if  I  have  had 
no  hand  in  killing  it." 

Reed  told  him  that  he  had  sold  them  for  twenty 
dollars,  to  the  clerk  of  the  steamboat  Pocahontas, 
as  she  was  descending  the  river. 

"  Did  you  indeed  ?  then  I  have  already  kept 
my  promise,  in  part,  for  I  have  been  eating  of  that 
venison  ever  since  it  came  into  market." 

They  seated  themselves  in  a  box,  where  they 
could  not  be  overheard,  and  Reed  then  related 
to  him  briefly  the  matters  of  which  the  reader  is 
already  apprised,  respecting  Belle.  After  he  got 
through  with  his  narrative,  Captain  Carter  fairly 
leaped  to  his  feet : 

"  What !  the  old  wretch,  to  make  a  slave  of  a 
white  girl — a  young  lady — his  brother's  only 
child !  he  ought  to  be  hung  without  judge  or  jury. 


306  BELLE   SCOTT. 

I  have  known,  for  ten  years,  that  he  is  a  knave. 
You  know  that  I  have  dealt  for  many  years  in 
fine  horses  —  I  had  a  pair  of  as  beautiful  bays 
as  ever  were  hitched  in  harness.  They  were 
small,  with  fetlocks  as  clean  and  as  slim  as  your 
wrist,  and  legs  like  a  deer.  They  had  small  and 
beautiful  heads,  and  carried  them  as  blooded  horses 
should ;  thick  black  manes,  and  broad,  full  tails ; 
they  were  well  coupled — as  sound  as  a  dollar,  and 
as  gentle  as  dogs.  I  sold  this  pair  of  horses  to 
Scott  for  a  thousand  dollars ;  when  I  did  so,  I  told 
him  they  were  well  broken  and  sound.  He  paid 
me  the  money,  and  in  less  than  a  month,  one  of 
them,  by  the  carelessness  of  his  driver,  got  hurt. 
What  did  the  old  scamp  do  then,  but  write  me  a 
note,  stating  that  the  horse  was  unsound,  and  that 
I  must  have  known  it  when  I  sold  it.  This 
wounded  me- — it  touched  me  on  a  tender  point — 
for  as  I  deal  in  horses  for  profit,  much  depends 
upon  my  reputation  for  honor  in  my  sales.  I  re 
turned  his  money  instantly,  took  back  the  horses, 
and  in  less  than  a  month  had  the  one  that  was 
hurt  as  well  as  ever,  and  sold  the  pair  for  fifteen 
hundred  dollars.  I  thank  him  for  his  meanness. 
It  was  five  hundred  dollars  in  my  pocket ;  but 
still  I  know  the  man.  I  never  sold  a  better  pair 
of  horses  in  my  life,  except  a  pair  of  blue  roans 
that  I  bought  in  Arkansas — they  were. 


CAPTAIN   CARTER.  307 

"'  Captain  Carter,  let  me  interrupt  you  ?  please 

excuse  me  for  doing  so,  my  business  is  urgent  ?  " 

"Well,"  said  he,  "what  can  I  do  for  you?" 

"  I  want  you  to  help  me  find  the  evidence  of 

this  young  lady's  identity  and  heirship.     There 

is  no  time  to  be  lost." 

"  Let  me  see,"  said  Captain  Carter :  "  How  old 
is  she  ?  " 

"Twenty-two." 

"  What  name  did  Scott  give  her  ?  " 

"Arabella  Robinson,  was  what  she  stated  it  to 
be  at  the  trial." 

"  When  did  she  come  on  the  plantation  ?  " 

"  When  she  was  about  six  years  of  age ;  which 
must  have  been  sixteen  years  ago." 

"Who  brought  her  there  ?  " 

"I  do  not  know." 

"  Where  was  she  brought  from  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  know ;  except  that  when  she  was  a 
child,  not  more  than  three  years  old,  she  was 
stolen  at  Willoughby." 

"Who  stole  her?" 

"I  cannot  tell." 

"  Is  she  handsome  ?  " 

"  Yes,  beautiful,  tall  and  graceful ;  with  black 
hair,  black  eyes,  fine  lips,  nose  and  chin,  and  a 
beautiful  set  of  teeth,  white  as  pearls." 

"Does  she  look  like  Scott?" 


308  BELLE   SC01T. 

"  Her  hair,  eyes  and,  skin,  are  certainly  different 
from  his,  which,  you  know,  are  all  light ;  but  her 
features  bear  so  striking  a  likeness  to  his  that 
before  I  knew  better,  I  supposed  she  was  his 
daughter." 

"  The  scent  is  quite  cold,"  said  Captain  Carter, 
"but  an  old  hunter  never  will  pause  on  that  account, 
when  he  sees  so  many  tracks  before  him." 

The  next  day  we  drove  out  to  Mr.  Scott's 
plantation.  "  We  must  be  cautious,"  said  Cap 
tain  Carter,  "  but  we  must  begin  here ;  this  is 
the  starting  point."  He  inquired  for  the  over 
seer  ;  we  were  told  that  he  had  gone  to  the  city. 
We  then  walked  out  around  the  quarters,  and  saw 
an  old  woman — one  of  the  slaves  of  the  planta 
tion.  Captain  Carter  shook  hands  with  her  as  an 
old  acquaintance,  and  placed,  as  he  did  so,  several 
pieces  of  silver  in  her  hand. 

"  Lord  bless  you,  massa !  I  do  not  know  you, 
but  you  knows  me.  I  forget  all  my  ole  friends." 

"Never  mind,"  said  the  captain,  "here  is  a 
young  friend,  who  wants  to  inquire  for  Miss 
Belle." 

"  Miss  Belle  is  gone  to  ole  Virginia — down  to 
ole  Willoughby,  whar  I  come  from  when  I  was 
young ;  whar  I 's  got  four  children  living  now,  I 
s'pose." 

"  You  know  Miss  Belle  then,  do  you  ?" 


CAPTAIN    CARTER.  309 

"  Why  lor',  massa !  how  can  I  help  but  know  the 
child  ?  I 's  known  her  ever  since  she  came  here." 

"Who  brought  her?" 

"  Ay  there,  you  're  ahead  of  me.  All  that  I 
know  is,  that  one  time  when  I  went  in  the  great 
house,  I  saw  her  thar — a  pretty  little  thing  she 
was  too.  But  here  comes  Liza ;  she,  may-be 
knows,  for  she  was  house-servant  then.  Eliza 
came  up — Uncle  Joe  shook  hands  with  her  too, 
and  dropped  a  piece  also  in  her  hand.  Eliza 
looked  as  greatly  surprised  as  Molly,  the  old 
woman,  had. 

"Liza,"  said  she,  "this  gentleman  wants  to 
know  who  brought  Miss  Belle  here,  when  she  first 
came  in  dis  here  place ;  does  you  know  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  replied  Eliza :  "  she  was 
fetched  here  in  the  night ;  but  this  I  does  know, 
that  a  month  before  she  came,  massa  sent  down 
to  the  city  for  Williams,  the  soul-driver,  to  come 
out  and  see  him ;  when  he  came,  we  was  all  so 
scared,  'cause  we  thought  some  of  us  was  gwine  to 
be  sold.  Then  he  came  again,  and  staid  all  night. 
He  came  in  a  carriage  this  time.  The  next 
morning  Miss  Belle  was  here." 

"Thank  you,  Liza,"  said  Captain  Carter: 
"good-by." 

As  soon  as  we  were  seated  in  our  carriage, 
Captain  Carter  said :  "  This  girl  was  brought 

26 


310  BELLE    SCOTT. 

here  by  Williams.  Scott  must  have  heard  of  her, 
and  sent  him  for  her.  He  was  gone  a  month ; 
perhaps  not  all  the  time  on  this  errand.  Her 
true  name  is  Arabella  Scott ;  when  she  came  here, 
she  bore  the  name  of  Robinson.  Williams  bought 
her  from  some  person  by  the  name  of  Robinson  ; 
that  person  did  not  live  in  these  parts.  Did  she 
tell  you  who  this  Robinson  was  ?  " 

"  Yes,  she  told  me  that  she  lived,  at  her  earliest 
recollection,  with  a  Mrs.  Robinson,  a  widow,  on  a 
small  plantation  in  a  pine  hill  country;  but  in 
what  county  or  state,  she  could  not  tell.  I  told 
her  where  I  had  been  hunting,  and  described  the 
country ;  and  she  said,  that  she  had  an  indistinct 
recollection  of  having  seen  just  such  a  country." 

"  That  will  do,"  said  the  captain,  "  I'll  go  right 
there." 

Mr.  Reed  now  made  arrangements  with  him, 
that  he  should  pursue  the  search  with  the  utmost 
diligence,  and  write  to  him  the  result,  as  often 
as  he  could ;  and  if  he  met  with  any  evidence  of 
value,  if  possible  to  bring  the  witnesses  with  him 
to  Auburn,  whatever  might  be  the  expense  of 
doing  so ;  assuring  him  that  if  they  were  success 
ful,  the  young  lady  would  have  ample  means  to 
repay  all  his  expenditure,  and  to  reward  him  for 
his  labor.  To  these  terms  he  cheerfully  agreed. 
Mr.  Reed  was  soon  on  his  way  to  Willoughby. 


CHAPTER   XXXIX. 


MARY   SCOTT. 


MR.  IVES  recovered  so  far  that  he  was  able  very 
soon  to  dine  with  Mary  Scott.  She  was  enter 
taining  him  with  an  incident  that  happened  to 
her  fortunes  since  she  came  to  Willoughby. 
Among  the  slaves  that  her  father  obtained  from 
her  uncle's  estate,  was  a  beautiful  boy,  about  six 
teen  years  of  age,  named  Lewis.  She  described 
him  as  yellow  as  gold,  with  flowing,  glossy-black 
hair,  and  large  lustrous  eyes,  full  of  activity  and 
intelligence  for  a  person  in  his  condition.  Within 
a  few  days  after  he  became  her  property  by  the 
gift  of  her  father,  the  boy  ran  away,  and  was 
trying  to  escape  to  the  free  States,  or  to  Canada. 
No  doubt,  she  said,  he  had  been  persuaded  by 
some  wicked  person  to  do  so ;  she  did  not  see 
why  he  should  have  thought  of  such  a  thing,  as 
he  had  always  been  well-treated,  had  plenty  of 
food  and  clothes,  and  light  labor.  Nothing 
therefore  but  some  mischief  whispered  in  his  ear 
by  some  vagabond,  could  have  led  him  to  take  so 
rash,  so  sad  a  course.  He  was  re-taken  and  in  a 

(311) 


312  BELLE   SCOTT. 

few  days  she  sold  him  to  a  gentleman  who  had 
taken  him  into  the  interior  of  the  state. 

"Sold  him  !"  said  Mr.  Ives,  "you,  you,  Mary! 
you  sold  him?" 

"  Yes,  I  have  just  told  you  I  sold  him ;  I  got 
nine  hundred  dollars  for  him,  and  might  have  got 
twelve  hundred  if  he  had  not  diminished  his 
value  by  his  freak  in  running  away." 

"  You  sold  him  Mary  ?  I  can  hardly  believe 
my  own  senses !  You  sold  him  ?" 

Mary  looked  surprised  by  the  intense  feeling, 
and  the  energetic,  though  lowly  spoken  words  of 
Mr.  Ives,  and  saw  that  he  was  deadly  pale.  He 
trembled — his  very  lips  were  white.  "  You, 
Mary !  you  sold  a  boy,  a  fellow  man,  human  flesh 
and  blood." 

The  matter  was  too  serious  now  to  be  concealed. 
The  guests  did  not  hear  his  words,  but  they  saw 
that  he  was  ill.  He  was  assisted  from  the  table, 
and  taken  in  a  carriage  to  his  hotel.  His  fever 
returned  with  increased  power,  and  all  now  feared 
he  would  die,  but  after  several  days  of  suspense, 
he  slowly  recovered. 

Mary  did  not  visit  him.  His  language  seemed 
filled  with  reproaches.  She  thought  that  he 
intended  to  wound  her  feelings;  to  reproach  her. 
Sometimes  too  she  thought  that  he  was  at  least 
indelicately  interfering  with  her  acknowledged 


MARY    SCOTT.  313 

right  to  control  her  property.  That  at  least  he 
might  postpone,  until  he  became  united  with  her 
in  its  ownership.  The  language  seemed  singu 
larly  strange  for  one  so  careful  of  the  feelings 
of  others  as  was  Mr.  Ives;  so  studious  of  pro 
priety  in  all  his  attentions  to  her.  Was  it  the 
lingering  fever  that  disturbed  his  senses  and 
now  broke  out  again  with  increased  force  ?  After 
some  days  of  unhappiness  she  came  to  this  con 
clusion,  and  half  pardoning,  again  visited  him. 
He  was  again  in  his  room  upon  the  sofa,  and 
alone  and  half  uncared  for ;  and  again  when  she 
saw  him,  her  heart,  in  spite  of  all  her  reasonings, 
forgave  him, 

"Henry,  I  have  heard  that  you  have  been 
very  ill  indeed.  I  feared  each  day  that  I  should 
hear  of  your  death ;  but  now  you  will  recover. 
What  have  you  been  thinking  of  while  you  were 
sick  and  alone  ?" 

"  Of  you,  Mary,  when  I  had  power  to  com 
mand  my  thoughts,  and  of  Lewis  in  all  my 
hours  of  delirium." 

"  Of  Lewis  !  and  for  hours  at  a  time,  Mr.  Ives  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  have,  wholly  without  effort  on  my  part, 
been  thinking  of  Lewis ;  the  boy  that  you  sold." 

"  Tell  me  what  you  thought  ?  I  will  not ; 
indeed,  I  will  not  be  angry  with  you  again.  I 
have  made  up  my  mind  that  you  are,  at  least,  a 


314  BKLLE    SCOTT. 

little  eccentric,  and  I  will  endure  your  vagaries 
for  the  sake  of  your  good  qualities.  Tell  me,  Mr. 
philosopher,  what  you  have  been  thinking  about 
Lewis?" 

"  Mary,  I  will  tell  you  a  little  now ;  perhaps,  at 
another  time,  more  may  occur  to  me." 

"  I  was  burning  with  fever,  and  tossing  restlessly 
upon  my  bed,  and  then  became  calm,  and  slept ; 
a  half-waking,  restless,  feverish  sleep,  I  saw  the 
white  cottage  in  the  orange  grove,  shaded  by  tall 
trees,  and  surrounded  by  hundreds  of  blooming 
flowers;  I  saw  you  at  the  door,  wife — my  wife — 
more  lovely  than  ever,  your  eyes  bright  with  wel 
come,  as  you  extended  your  hand  to  greet  me : 
and  then  in  an  instant  the  whole  scene  was 
changed.  The  cottage,  and  all  its  trees  and  shrubs, 
and  flowers,  and  the  green  grass  on  the  lawn  were 
all  gone,  and  in  their  place  a  great  desert  of  flat, 
wet  sand,  and  in  the  place  where  the  cottage  stood, 
Lewis,  alone,  in  chains,  kneeling  on  the  sand, 
and  with  outstretched  arms  praying  for  freedom. 
And  then  the  scene  changed,  and  Louis  was  not 
alone.  Thousands,  and  tens  of  thousands — mil 
lions  of  men,  of  all  colors,  and  all  in  chains,  old 
men  and  young  men,  old  women  and  young  women, 
and  children,  and  infants  in  their  mothers'  arms, 
stood  around  him,  and  chains  fine  as  spider's  web, 
but  firmer  than  steel,  extended  from  Lewis,  and 


THE    DREAM.  315 

fastened  upon  the  fetters  of  every  one  of  all  that 
host  of  slaves,  and  strengthened  and  riveted  their 
chains.  They  all  kneeled  and  prayed  for  freedom. 

One  came,  who  seemed  to  be  a  minister  of 
mercy,  for  he  had  vowed  to  devote  his  whole  being 
to  God ;  he  looked  with  a  cold,  careless  gaze  at 
the  sufferers,  and  passed  on. 

"  Another  came,  and  knelt  and  prayed  :  '  Thy 
will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven,'  and 
passed  on  his  way. 

"Another  came,  and  read  from  a  book  .before  him: 
'  And  they  stripped  him,  and  put  on  him  a  scarlet 
robe ;  and  when  they  had  plaited  a  crown  of  thorns, 
they  put  it  on  his  head,  and  a  reed  in  his  right 
hand :  and  they  bowed  the  knee  before  him,  and 
mocked  him,  saying,  'Hail  King  of  the  Jews!" 
And  he,  too,  bowed  the  knee  to  Christ,  but  passed 
on,  looking  as  he  did  so,  without  pity  or  mercy. 

"Another  came,  and  shouted  for  freedom,  and 
equality,  and  republicanism,  and  looked  in  his 
turn,  and  reviled,  and  hissed,  and  traduced,  and 
defamed  him ;  and  he,  too,  went  on  his  way. 

"  Others,  and  still  others,  came.  Some  blessed 
the  fetters  that  bound  him,  and  others  prayed  that 
the  links  might  be  broken,  but  made  no  effort  to 
do  so." 

"  Well,"  said  Mary,  "  that  was  really  a  curious 
dream  ;  it  seems  to  me  as  if  you  were  not  all  asleep 


31 6  BELLE   SCOTT. 

when  you  dreamed  it.  Your  will,  perhaps,  con 
trolled  the  gambols  of  your  imagination.  But 
what  at  last  was  the  end  of  it  ?  " 

"  I  dreamed  still,  that  as  Lewis  knelt  and  prayed, 
a  fire  came  down  and  encircled  him,  as  with  a  halo 
of  golden  light ;  and  on  it  was  written,  l  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.' 

"And  then  another  flame  also,  encircled  him,  and 
on  that  was  written,  '  Do  unto  others  as  you  would 
that  others  should  do  unto  you.'  His  chains  fell, 
and  he  stood  up,  a  MAN,  girded  and  protected  by 
these  great  lights  from  the  Throne  of  God.  And 
other  men  gathered  in  crowds  around  him,  and 
endeavored  again  to  enchain  and  to  enslave  him ; 
but  could  not  do  so  for  these  concentric  circles 
of  fire  protected  him;  at  length  they  burst 
through  them,  and  while  thunders  muttered  above 
their  heads,  and  the  sky  was  black  with  masses 
of  moving  cloulds,  (through  which  I  saw  something 
like  a  great  right  arm  outstretched,)  and  filled  with 
thunder,  they  again  enslaved  him  and  led  him  off 
to  the  markets,  where  human  flesh  and  blood  are 
sold." 

"  Well,"  said  Mary,  "  that  is  a  curious  dream ; 
it  seems  to  me  there's  something  in  it.  All 
dreams  are  not  alike ;  some  are  really  remarkable, 
and  you  cannot  help  remembering  them.  But  I 
have  heard  it  said,  that  if  you  never  tell  your 


REFLECTIONS.  317 

dreams,  you  \vill  soon  forget  them,  and  never  be 
troubled  with  them.  I  half  wish  you  had  not 
told  this  to  me." 

Mary  went  to  her  present  home.  The  dream ; 
did  he  invent  it,  to  rebuke  her  as  gently  as 
he  could,  but  yet  as  strongly?  Was  it  indeed 
wrong  to  sell  her  truant  slave  ?  She  leaned  her 
head  upon  her  hand,  as  she  sat  alone  in  the 
twilight  in  her  chamber.  She  had  sold  the  boy, 
but  what  of  that  ?  her  father,  and  her  grand 
father,  had  bought  and  sold  slaves.  The  minis 
ter  of  the  church  of  which  she  was  a  member, 
bought  some ;  and  when  occasion  served,  sold 
others ;  many  of  the  best  members  of  the  church 
had  done  so ;  and  why  was  it  her  duty  to  know 
more  than  these  ?  or  to  set  up  for  herself  a  higher 
standard  of  duty  than  that  adopted  and  practiced 
by  those  whom  she  most  venerated  on  earth? 
True,  she  thought  that  the  habitual  dealing  in 
slaves,  could  not  but  be  wrong.  The  men  whom 
she  had  occasionally  seen  engaged  in  that  trade, 
were  persons  with  whom  she  could  not  associate ; 
and  she  could  not  but  condemn  their  conduct. 
But  they  followed  the  business  for  mere  gain. 
She  had  not  been  controlled  by  such  motives. 
If  her  boy  had  remained,  she  would  have  been 
kind  to  him ;  but  he  ran  off,  and  all  her  friends 
advised  her  to  sell  him.  He  was  a  slave  before 

27 


318  BELLE   SCOTT. 

she  sold  him,  he  was  only  a  slave  now ;  it  was  a 
mere  transfer  of  ownership.  The  boy's  mother 
was  dead,  she  knew  nothing  of  his  father,  except 
only,  that  she  had  heard  he  had  been  sold  two 
years  before,  and  taken  to  Tennessee.  Mr.  Ives 
did  not  condemn  her  for  holding  Lewis  as  a  slave, 
but  only  for  selling  him !  Where  was  the  differ- 

\/  cj 

ence  between  holding  and  selling  him  ?  If  the 
one  was  right,  the  other  could  not  be  wrong, 
unless  indeed,  she  had  sold  him  to  an  unkind 
master ;  but  she  had  not  done  so  ;  the  purchaser 
was  kind,  a  gentleman  of  high  character  and  well- 
known  benevolence. 

But  still  in  spite  of  all  her  reasonings,  her 
heart  was  not  at  rest.  "  He  was  my  property," 
she  said ;  and  an  almost  audible  voice  answered 
her,  "Who  made  man  your  property?"  She 
started,  and  thought  of  the  concentric  circles  of 
light,  and  the  words  of  fire :  "  Thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  "Love  a  negro  as  I 
love  myself?  make  my  own  rights,  and  feelings, 
and  wishes,  the  measure  of  my  duties  to  a  negro  ?" 
She  sat  still  again,  so  still  that  her  heart  was 
almost  silent ;  and  rose,  and  said  half  aloud, 
"  They  are  God's  words.  The  common  Father  of 
the  human  race,  lays  the  same  duties,  and  confers 
the  same  rights  alike  upon  all  his  children." 


THE   JOURNEY.  319 

Early  the  next  day,  she  sent  a  servant  to 
inquire  for  Mr.  Ives'  health,  and  when  she  was 
told  that  it  had  improved,  she  again  sent  the 
servant  with  a  message,  that  business  required 
her  immediate  absence,  for  a  few  days,  from 
Willoughby ;  bade  him  take  good  care  of  himself, 
and  in  an  hour  was  in  a  stage-coach  on  her 
journey. 


CHAPTER    XL. 


BELLE   SCOTT. 


THE  hopes  which  were  entertained  of  Belle's 
speedy  recovery  proved  to  be  delusive.  Some 
permanent  injury,  that  defied  all  remedies,  seemed 
to  have  been  inflicted  upon  her  by  the  fire.  She 
was  not  scarred  nor  were  there  any  external 
marks  of  injury,  but  she  was  scarcely  able  to 
walk.  Her  spirits  too  became  more  sad  each  day, 
as  the  time  drew  near  for  the  decision  of  her 
cause.  She  was  sweet,  and  mild,  her  whole 
soul  seemed  to  be  bathed  in  an  atmosphere 
of  resignation,  gratitude  and  love ;  but  at  times 
she  would  start  and  grow  pale,  as  if  just  awakened 
from  a  fearful  dream. 

For  a  few  days  after  the  fire,  the  neighbors 
showed  her  much  sympathy;  some  no  doubt 
visited  her  merely  from  curiosity.  But  now 
things  had  resumed  their  usual  course  at  the 
parsonage.  The  attraction  of  novelty  had  worn 
off.  Mrs.  Johnston  was  still  the  same  devoted 
friend ;  Mrs.  Stillman  still  kind  and  hopeful. 
Mr.  Stillman  looked  sad,  and  sometimes  sighed,  but 

(320) 


GOSSIP.  321 

he  also  looked  firm ;  as  a  man  does,  who  knows  he 
is  right  and  is  determined  to  persist  in  the  course 
he  has  chosen.  Why  he  was  thus  sad  and  thus 
firm  will  be  more  apparent  from  the  following 
dialogue. 

The  parties  are  Mrs.  Upson,  the  hostess  of  the 
evening ; .  Mrs.  Turton,  Miss  Williams,  and  Mrs. 
Jones,  seated  at  the  tea-table  of  Mrs.  Upson,  in 
the  village  of  Auburn. 

Mrs.  Jones.  "How  is  that  girl  who  was  hurt 
at  the  fire  ?" 

Mrs.  Upson.  "  Getting  better;  but  she  is  unable, 
or  pretends  to  be  unable  yet.  to  walk  out  of  doors. 

Mrs.  Turton.  "  Well !  what  is  this  world  coming 
to !  Our  preacher's  wife  went  up  to  Mr.  Stillman's 
last  week,  just  to  make  a  short  call.  Mrs.  Still- 
man  insisted  on  her  staying  to  tea.  She  seated 
her,  at  the  tea-table,  right  down  by  the  side  of 
that  mulatto  girl,  Belle ;  and  she  declares  that  the 
odor  was  so  strong  that  she  could  not  eat  a  bit ; 
and  that  poor  Mrs.  Stillman  was  so  mortified 
that  she  could  hardly  look  her  in  the  face." 

Miss  Williams.  "  Why,  how  can  that  be  ?  I  have 
heard  that  she  is  a  white  girl  and  a  great  heiress. 
Indeed  I  have  seen  her,  and  cannot  see  a  single 
trace  of  the  negro  or  mulatto  about  her. 

Mrs.  Upson.  "  Oh  !  that  was  a  nice  story  got  up 
by  the  Abolitionists  here,  only  to  get  the  girl  off; 


322  BELLE    SCOTT. 

but  it  did  no  good;  it  was  hardly  a  nine  days' 
wonder." 

Mrs.  Jones.  "  And  that  pert  little  Mrs.  John 
ston,  who  was  so  vain  of  her  wealth  and  beauty, 
has  met  with  a  sad  fall;  people  are  talking 
about  her  all  over  the  town  and  neighborhood ; 
they  say  that  she  eats  with  that  mulatto  and 
treats  her  as  if  she  was  a  sister.  I  guess  some 
people  presume  too  much  on  their  wealth  and 
influence." 

Mrs.  Jones.  "  Why,  la  me !  The  whole  country 
are  laughing  about  that  young  widow  and  her  pet 
mulatto.  As  for  poor  Mr.  Stillman,  I  do  pity 
him  I  He  and  his  wife  are  under  the  influence 
of  Mrs.  Johnston,  because  she  contributes  ten 
times  more  to  their  support  than  anybody  else  ;— 
they  are  afraid  to  offend  her ;  but  on  the  other 
side  old  Mr.  Rounds,  who  is"  one  of  the  ruling 
elders  of  his  church,  called  at  our  door  yesterday 
and  shook  his  head  and  said,  that  it  did  seem  to 
him,  their  church  never  would  have  a  settled 
pastor ;  they  have  had  four  ministers  in  five  years ; 
and  now  Mr.  Stillman  will  have  to  leave,  or  the 
Church  will  be  divided,  as  more  than  half  his  con 
gregation  entirely  disapprove  of  his  harboring 
that  negro  girl. 

Miss  Williams :  "  I  wish  I  were  only  able  to 
make  good  fo  Mr.  Stillman,  all  the  losses  he  will 


GOSSIP.  323 

sustain  by  his  hospitality  to  that  poor  girl.  His 
conduct  seems  to  me  eminently  praiseworthy. 
He  has  taken  care  of  the  sick  and  the  hungry — 
and  proved  himself,  by  his  good  deeds,  a  minister 
whose  example  is  a  commentary  upon  his  public 
teaching." 

Mrs.  Upson .  "  Well,  my  dear  girl,  no  one  blames 
him  for  his  benevolence ;  we  only  censure  him 
for  his  imprudence.  He  could  have  discharged 
all  the  duties  you  praise  so  highly,  to  the  girl, 
without  making  her  an  inmate  of  his  house,  and  a 
companion  for  his  wife.  He  could  have  taken  her 
to  negro  Tom's  house,  just  by  his  church,  and 
Tom's  wife  would  have  given  her  all  the  atten 
tion  she  needs — and  Mr.  Stillman  could  have 
called  daily,  if  he  pleased,  and  seen  that  she  wanted 
nothing.  If  he  had  done  so,  he  would  not  have 
insulted  and  outraged  so  large  a  portion  of  his 
church  members  as  he  has  done,  by  trying  to 
break  down  the  God-made  distinctions  between 
the  white  and  the  negro  races." 

Mrs.  Jones  :  "  It's  a  great  pity,  too,  that  he  did 
so  just  at  this  time.  His  church,  which  had  been 
distracted,  and  almost  divided  upon  the  liquor 
question,  had  become  in  a  manner  united,  and  are 
now  more  divided  than  before.  It  is  plain  that 
he  will  have  to  leave." 

Miss  Williams :  "I  think  if  any  church  will  not 


324  BELLE   SCOTT. 

let  their  minister  take  such  persons  into  his  family 
as  he  thinks  best — the  sooner  he  gets  away,  the 
better  it  will  be  for  him.  It  may  be  worse  for  the 
church,  but  he  will  gain  by  the  change." 

Mrs.  Upson :  "  Oh !  you  know,  Jane,  that  a 
minister  is  a  public  person,  and  his  example  does 
more  good  or  more  harm  than  that  of  others.  He 
ought,  therefore,  to  be  circumspect  in  proportion 
to  his  influence." 

Mrs.  Jones :  "  That  word  influence,  that  you 
have  just  used,  reminds  me,  too,  that  another  of 
the  elders  told  me  that  Mr.  Stillman,  by  his  con 
duct  in  this  affair,  has  utterly,  and  perhaps,  for 
ever  impaired  his  influence,  especially  over  those 
that  are  without.  He  said  that  Col.  Nipperj;,  our 
state  senator,  used  frequently  to  go  and  hear  him 
preach ;  but  he  declares  he  cannot  do  so  consci 
entiously,  now  that  he  has  turned  Abolitionist,  and 
that  many  others  are  in  the  same  state  of  mind. 
The  influence  of  a  minister  is  his  most  precious 
jewel,  and  one  that  he  cannot  take  too  much 
care  of." 

Miss  Williams :  "  I  don't  know  how  it  is,  but 
I  have  observed  that  those  ministers,  who  are 
always  taking  care  of  their  influence,  as  they 
call  it,  are  good  for  nothing  else.  I  have  never 
seen,  in  either  the  New  or  Old  Testaments  that  the 
apostles  and  prophets  were  men  who  took  care  of 


GOSSIP.  325 

their  influence — so  far  from  it,  they,  every  one  of 
them,  seem  at  all  times  utterly  to  have  disre 
garded  it,  and  discharged  only  the  duty  in  hand, 
whether  men  would  hear,  or  whether  they  would 
forbear — whether  they  were  pleased  or  offended." 

Mrs.  Upson:   "You  are  quite  severe,  Jane." 

Miss  Williams :  "  Indeed  I  am  on  this  the 
greatest  vice  of  our  ministry.  Taking  care  of 
their  influence,  is  but  a  name,  under  which  they 
cloak  their  cowardice  and  time-serving.  The 
influence  most  cared  for,  is  their  conjectured  in 
fluence  over  the  rich  or  the  great.  Whenever  I 
hear  a  minister  talk  of  taking  care  of  his  influence, 
I  think  at  once,  that  it  is  but  the  mean  wincing 
of  a  time-server,  shrinking  from  known  duty, 
under  the  pretense,  which  he  generally  knows  to 
be  false,  of  being  more  useful  by  leaving  known 
duties  undischarged.  All  such  men  are  injurious 
to  the  churches,  and  the  sooner  they  are  turned 
out  of  the  ministry  the  better." 

Mrs.  Upson  and  Mrs.  Jones  together :  "  Why 
Jane,  how  you  do  talk." 

Miss  Williams :  "  If  a  few  others  would  talk  sc 
too,  and  act  also  in  the  same  spirit,  our  churches 
would  not  be  as  they  are  now,  so  cold  and  dead 
The  rule,  fixed  as  the  law  of  gravitation,  '  that 
he  who  will  save  his  life,  shall  lose  it ;  and  he  who 
will  lose  his  life  for  the  Gospel,  shall  save  it;1 


326  BELLE   SCOTT. 

applies  as  directly  to  the  influence  of  ministers, 
as  to  their  lives ;  and  they  all  know  it.  As  long 
as  ministers  are  permitted,  under  the  plea  of 
preserving  their  influence,  to  stand  aloof  from 
unpopular  Christian  duties ;  each  in  his  turn  may 
do  so,  and  every  duty  be  left  undischarged. 
This  vice,  is  the  great  maelstrom  that  draws 
down  to  death  the  usefulness  of  all  who  indulge 
in  it.  This  practice,  is  the  spendthrift's  promise, 
to*  -pay  principal  and  large  interest  next  year ; 
while,,  tb^.debt  is  due  now,  and  he  can  pay  it  if 
he  vvuY 


CHAPTER    XLI. 


MAKY    SCOTT. 


Two  men  were  in  a  parlor  of  a  hotel.  One  of 
them  was  tall  and  handsome,  his  face  showed 
marks  of  dissipation,  but  not  of  recent  excess ;  it 
was  an  old  wound  of  which  you  saw.th&  deep, 
broad  scar.  The  other  was  younger — Bxfth  looked 
like  gentlemen. 

A  servant  came  in  and  said  to  the  elder 
gentleman:  "Mr.  Watts,  a  lady  wishes  to  see 
you  in  the  parlor ;  and  wants  you,  if  you  please, 
to  wait  a  few  minutes,  and  she  will  come  in." 

"Who  is  she?" 

"1  do  not  know,"'  said  the  servant:  "she  is 
young,  and  very  pretty,  sir.  She  came  here 
only  an  hour  ago.'' 

"  Some  person,"  said  Mr.  Simmons,  "  who  has 
servants  for  sale,  I  suppose,  sir." 

"  Probably  so,"  said  Mr.  Watts.  "  I  know  of 
nothing  else,  that  could  induce  the  lady  to  call 
on  me.  But  to  resume  our  conversation,  I  saw 
in  a  newspaper,  an  advertisement  of  a  sale  of 
slaves,  which  is  to  take  place  to-morrow  in  - 

(327) 


328  BELLE   SCOTT. 

county.  Shall  we  go  there  to  purchase  ?  Fifty- 
two  are  to  be  sold  for  cash,  to  the  highest  bidder." 

"I,  too,  have  seen  it,"  replied  Mr.  Simmons, 
"  and  knew  the  gentleman  very  well,  when  he  was 
alive,  whose  property  is  now  to  be  sold  by  his 
administrators.  He  was  a  distinguished  preacher, 
whose  name  you  have  often  seen  in  the  news 
papers.  He  wrote  a  great  deal  in  support  of 
slavery,  and  denounced  the  fanatics  of  the  North 
with  a  degree  of  severity  that  made  them  wince 
and  feel,  to  the  core  of  their  hearts,  the  sarcasms 
that  dropped  as  vitriol  from  his  pen." 

"Well,  well!"  said  Mr.  Watts,  "we  ought  by 
all  means  then,  to  attend  the  sale.  We  owe  it  to 
him  as  a  debt  of  gratitude,  to  make  his  property 
sell  as  high  as  our  competition  can  effect  it,  with 
out  injury  to  ourselves.  I  have  often  heard  of 
the  gentleman,  but  had  not  the  honor  of  an 
acquaintance  with  him.  Will  you  go  ?  or  shall  I  ?" 

"  Oh !  do  you  go  by  all  means.  I  am  here 
among  those  who  have  known  me  from  my  child 
hood,  and  could  not  bear  to  be  seen  as  a  trader 
purchasing  slaves.  You  are  almost  a  stranger 
here,  and  have  been  long  accustomed  to  the 
business." 

"I'll  go,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Watts,  "but  you  really 
must  get  over  the  shyness  that  so  afflicts  you. 
You  arc,  a  trader,  and  will  have  to  share  the  losses 


MK.     WATTS.  329 

us  well  as  to  enjoy  the  profits  of  the  trade.  You 
never  fail  to  pocket  your  share  of  the  profits. 
I  have  received  profits  from  the  trade  and  losses 
too.  I  have  lost  nearly  all  my  friends,  and  my 
self-respect." 

"You  are  in  bad  spirits  this  morning.  Why 
should  you  lose  your  self-respect  ?  Was  not 
your  father  a  slaveholder,  and  your  grandfather  ? 
and  were  not  all  your  ancestors  slaveholders,  as 
far  back  as  you  can  trace  your  pedigree  ?  They 
bought  slaves  and  held  them  and  sold  them ;  and 
what  are  you  doing  now  but  buying  and  selling 
slaves?" 

"  Yes,"  replied  Watts,  "  that  is  true,  but  they 
.were  planters — not  traders." 

"I  cannot  see  the  difference  between  the 
planter  who  buys  and  sells,  and  the  trader  who 
does  the  same,  except  that  the  one  does  not 
make  it  his  regular  business,  and  the  other 
does." 

"  Difference  or  no  difference,  in  principle,"  said 
Watts,  "  there  is  at  least  a  great  difference  in  the 
looks  of  a  thing.  Nobody  whose  opinion  is  worth 
a  rush,  thinks  the  worse  of  a  planter  for  selling  a 
slave,  or  thinks  slave-trading  a  respectable  busi 
ness.  I  cannot  for  the  life  of  me  see,  why  the 
distinction  should  be  made,  but  it  is  made,  and 
whether  it  is  rightly  or  wrongly  made,  is  no 


BELLE    SCOTT. 

difference  to  me.  I  feel,  that  I  am  in  a  lower 
position  now  than  I  was  a  year  ago." 

"  That  may  be  all  true,  sir ;  but  even  if  it  is  so, 
you  ought  to  conquer  your  prejudices.  It  is  no 
worse  to  trade  in  slaves,  than  it  is  for  a  Northern 
judge  to  send  one  back  again  into  slavery.  No 
doubt,  such  judges  feel  themselves  degraded  and 
disgraced  by  such  conduct;  but  they  soon  get 
used  to  it  and  learn  to  bear  their  misfortunes 
with  due  composure." 

"  That  may  be,  sir ;  but  nothing  but  the  hope 
of  making  a  fortune,  and  soon  too,  could  make 
me  continue  in  this  business  another  day.  I  do 
hope,  when  I  shall  have  made  one  or  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  to  leave  this  business,  and  if 
possible,  all  my  remembrances  of  it,  and  lead  a 
quiet  life  on  a  plantation  well  stocked  with 
slaves." 

"  That  may  be  a  bright  hope,  and  I  wish  it 
may  be  realized ;  but,  my  dear  sir,  few  persons 
who  begin  this  trade  ever  leave  it ;  they  continue 
in  it  till  they  die.  It  has  its  fascinations,  as  all 
other  trades  by  which  money  is  speedily  made ; 
you  buy  and  sell  at  a  handsome  profit  till  your 
reputation  as  an  honorable  trader  is  well  known, 
and  then  you  buy  on  credit,  and  have  your  notes 
to  pay ;  and  so  it  passes  on  from  year  to  year 
until  you  become  old,  and  rich,  and  die." 


MR.  WATTS.  331 

"  Die  a  slave-trader !"  said  Mr.  Watts  with  emph 
asis.  "  Die  a  trader,  sir,  I  can  never  think  of  that." 

"  Well,  that  is  strange ;  you  said  but  half  a 
minute  ago,  that  you  wish  to  retire  and  live  on  a 
well-stocked  plantation.  Is  it  any  more  dreadful 
to  die  a  slave-trader  than  to  die  a  slaveholder? 
Thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  men  in  this 
country  have  so  died,  and  who  thought  their  fate 
a  sad  one  ?  Really,  there  may  be  a  mighty  dif 
ference,  but  my  vision  is  too  obtuse  to  see  where 
it  lies." 

«  Nor  can  I,"  said  Mr.  Watts,  «  but  still  T  can 
not  endure  the  thought.  I  have  had  a  fortune, 
and  lost  it,  and  must  make  another ;  and  no  other 
way  than  this,  seems  open  before  me.5' 

"  I,  too,  have  lost  a  small  fortune,  but  I  do  not 
feel  as  you  do  about  the  business.  I  have 
already  made  ten  limes  as  much  as  I  had  when  I 
began  life,  and  I  intend  to  follow  the  business  as 
long  as  I  can  make  it  profitable.  I  see  no  sense 
in  a  man's  living  on  a  sugar  plantation,  and 
making  four  or  five  thousand  dollars  a  year,  when 
he  can  make  twice  that  sum  in  the  trade,  with 
the  same  capital.  A  man  can  live  in  Richmond 
or  New  Orleans  and  send  out  his  agent,  if  he 
chooses,  to  buy  and  sell  for  him.  His  life  will  be 
as  easy  as  that  of  the  richest  planter,  if  he 
pursues  that  course  ;  and  even  if  he  attends  in  his 


332  BELLE   SCOTT. 

own  person  to  the  details  of  his  business,  his  life 
is  not  much  more  laborious  than  is  that  of  gentle 
men  who  give  personal  attention  to  the  affairs  of 
their  own  plantations.  I  have  no  qualms  of  con 
science  about  the  thing.  The  trade  in  slaves  is 
but  the  trade  in  one  of  the  great  staple  com 
modities  of  the  United  States.  I  have  not  the 
least  objection  to  its  being  made  as  infamous  as 
all  the  people  in  the  world  can  make  it.  The 
fewer  competitors  the  better  for  us.  The  more 
men  you  keep  out  of  the  business,  the  better 
it  will  be  for  those  who  remain  in  it.  The 
infamy  of  the  slave-trade,  my  dear  sir,  of  which 
you  complain  so  much,  is  really  the  greatest 
source  of  our  profits.  I  have  met  in  my  time 
with  hundreds  of  men  who  would  gladly  have 
engaged  in  it  if  they  only  dared  to  do  so." 

Here  the  conversation  was  interrupted  by  the 
entrance  of  a  lady,  who  inquired  for  Mr.  Watts. 

"I  am  the  person,"  said  Mr.  Watts,  handing 
her  a  chair,  "  can  I  be  of  any  service  to  you  to 
day,  madam  ? " 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  lady.  "  I  sold,  some  time 
ago,  a  mulatto  boy  to  Colonel  Rawlings,  who  told 
me  he  wanted  him  for  a  dining-room  servant. 
I  have  since  learned  that  he  sold  him  to  you.  Is 
that  so,  sir  ?  " 

"  I  did  buy  a  negro  of  Colonel  Rawlings,  and  I 


MR.    WATTS,  333 

have  no  doubt,  madam,  it  is  the  boy  you  sold  him. 
He  told  me  he  had  lately  bought  him." 

"I  wish  to  re-purchase  the  boy,"  said  the  lady ; 
"  what  is  your  price  ?  " 

"  Oh !  my  dear  madam,  I  make  it  a  rule  never 
to  sell  any,  while  I  am  on  my  route,  or  gathering 
up  a  gang.  I  buy  in  the  northern  slave-holding 
states,  and  sell,  generally,  at  New  Orleans.  It 
would  greatly  derange  my  business  to  sell  before 
I  get  my  gang  into  the  regular  market." 

"  But  can  you  not  sell  one,  sir  ?  I  wish,  espe 
cially,  to  re-purchase  this  boy,  and  will  give  you 
any  reasonable  sum  you  may  ask  for  him.  I  sold 
him  inconsiderately,  and  greatly  regret  the  act." 

"  Was  he  not  your  property  ?  "  inquired  Mr. 
Watts,  with  a  keen,  piercing  look. 

"  I  got  him  from  my  father,"  replied  the  lady, 
"and  regret  that  I  have  sold  him.  I  have  heard 
that  you  gave  Colonel  Rawlings  nine  hundred 

v  CD 

dollars  for  him,  I  will  give  you  twelve  hundred 
dollars,  and  you  will  thus  make  a  handsome  profit 
in  a  very  short  time." 

"  There  is  nothing  in  the  world  I  would  not  do 
to  oblige  a  lady,  except  to  break  in  on  my  settled 
rules  of  business.  That  I  can't  do  for  any  person.'1 

"  But,  sir,  I  feel  that  I  have  done  wrong  in  sel 
ling  the  boy,  and  wish  to  repair  the  injuries  I 
have  done  him.1' 


334  BELLE   SCOTT. 

"  Oh !  as  Cur  that,  madam,  it  is  only  a  feeling 
common  to  all  persons  who  sell  slaves,  especially 
after  they  are  relieved  from  the  pressure  that  in 
duced  them  to  sell.  When  the  money  is  spent, 
then  they  are  sorry,  and  repent." 

"  My  money  is  not  spent,  sir,  and  my  repent 
ance  proceeds  from  no  such  motive.  Here,  sir," 
said  she,  "  laying  on  a  center-table  a  roll  of  bank 
bills ;  here  is  money  enough  to  repay  you  all  that 
you  have  paid  to  Colonel  Rawlings,  and  more,  so 
as  to  leave  you  a  reasonable  profit  for  your  ne 
farious  business." 

"  Nefarious  business,  madam,  in  which  two  must 
always  be  engaged ! "  replied  Watts  with  half  a 
sneer.  "  Nefarious  business !  but,  however,  a  lady 
has  privileges." 

"  I  feel  the  full  force  of  your  censure,  and  it  is 
just.  The  buyer  and  the  seller  are,  for  a  time  at 
least,  and  in  that  transaction,  equals.  And  be 
cause  it  is  so,  I  want  to  re-purchase  the  boy.'1 

"  Well,  madam,  if  that  is  your  motive,  we  can 
not  engage  in  the  same  transaction.  If  it  was 
wrong  for  you  to  sell  to  Colonel  Rawlings,  it  must 
be  wrong  for  me  to  sell  to  you.  I  cannot  sell  him 
to-day,  madam." 

"  Will  you  to-morrow  then  ?  ' '  eagerly  inquired 
the  lady ;  "  if  you  will,  I  will  wait  here  till  to 
morrow.'' 


BRIDGET.  335 

"  No,  madam,  1  have  made  up  my  mind,  since 
I  have  been  talking  to  you,  to  take  him  to  my 
own  plantation  in  Mississippi." 

While  this  conversation  was  going  on,  a  servant 
was  busy  in  the  room.  The  lady  left  the  parlor, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  heard  a  knock  at  her  door ; 
the  servant  entered. 

"  Don't  cry,  my  dear  leddy,  don't  cry  so.  I 
I  heard  myself  all  that  the  ould  thrader  said  to  ye, 
and  all  that  ye  said  til  him ;  don't  ye  cry  so ;  me 
and  Patrick  is  agoing  away  from  here  to-morrow, 
and  Patrick,  that's  my  ould  man,  that  is^  shall  fix 
it  for  you ;  fur  all  that  ould  Watts  whouldn't  take 
yer  money  when  you  was  in  the  parlor,  as  soon 
as  you  come  out,  he  sat  down  and  counted  it, 
and  put  it  in  his  pocket-book.  I  saw  him  with 
my  own  eyes ;  so  now  he 's  took  your  money,  and 
he  '11  be  obliged  to  let  you  have  the  boy  you 
want  til  buy.  He  can't  help  himself  now,  miss." 

"  Where  is  the  boy  ?  "  said  Mary,  for  it  was  she. 

"  Oh !  he 's  in  this  very  house,  madam,  up 
stairs  in  the  garret,  and  the  dhoor's  locked ;  and 
Patrick  takes  up  victuals  to  them,  and  'tends  to 
them." 

"  What !  is  this  tavern  a  slave-pen  ?  " 

"  Oh  no,  dear  miss !  it's  not  exactly  a  slave-pen. 
1  have  been  chambermaid  in  hotels  in  the  free 
states ;  they  keep  slaves  locked  up  there,  just  as 


336  BELLE    SCOTT. 

they  do  here,  in  the  taverns  up-stairs,  to  keep 
'em  from  running  away.  I'll  get  Patrick  to 
come  up  here  wid  me  and  see  you ;  and  sure  you 
hardly  would  mind  making  us  a  little  present, 
just  for  a  keepsake,  if  Patrick  helped  the  boy  off, 
that  you  could  get  him  again  ?  " 

The  next  day  Mary  was  riding  in  a  stage. 
She  passed  a  man  driving  a  lean  horse  in  a  small 
wagon.  He  was  sitting  on  a  great  box,  apparently 
of  goods,  and  behind  him  in  the  wagon,  sat 
Bridget.  The  man,  when  he  saw  her,  gave  two 
or  three  heavy  raps  upon  the  box,  and  the  stage 
was  soon  out  of  sight. 

Mary  waited  at  Marietta,  in  Ohio,  for  her 
friends,  Patrick  and  Bridget,  to  overtake  her. 
The  next  day  they  crossed  the  river ;  the  box  was 
opened,  and  Lewis  leaped  out. 

"  Now  will  not  the  dear  leddy,  make  Patrick  a 
handsome  present  ?  only  think  of  the  risk  that 
he  ran,  and  all  to  oblige  the  swate  leddy.  He 
wouldn't  have  done  it  for  any  other  person  in  this 
world,  only  for  you." 

"Thank  you,  madam,  God  bless  ye!  I'll 
remember  ye  forever !  This  is  a  twenty  dollar 
gold  piece,  I  believe  ?  " 

"  Yes,  it  is  twenty  dollars." 

"Is  this  for  Patrick,  or  for  me,  madam  ?  " 

"For  Patrick:' 


BRIDGET.  337 

"  Now,  you  dear  leddy,  I  am  sure  you're  not 
a-going  to  let  Patrick  have  it  all,  when  I've  had 
just  as  much  trouble  as  he  ?  " 

"  Thank  you,  madam.  That's  a  ten  dollar  gold 
piece,  is  it  ?  God  bless  you !  We  '11  remember 
your  leddyship  forever." 


CHAPTER     XLII. 


MR.    IVES. 


"  WHY  have  you  not  called  sooner  ?  "  said  Mr. 
Ives,  "  I  have  not  seen  you  for  ten  days.  It  is 
really  cruel,  to  treat  me  as  you  have  done.  I 
have  been  sick ;  I  am  yet  unable  to  leave  the 
house ;  I  have  but  few  acquaintances  here,  and  no 
friends  except  yourself;  and  the  hours  have  passed 
heavily,  with  leaden  weight,  from  your  absence. 
Indeed  I  did  not  intend  to  offend  you,  by  the 
remarks  that  I  made  about  that  boy.  I  was 
taken  by  surprise,  and  perhaps  expressed  myself 
in  stronger  terms  than  I  should  have  used ;  but  I 
am  sure  you  will  forgive  me." 

"Forgive  you,  indeed !  "  replied  Mary,  "  forgive 
you  !  I  thank  you  from  my  heart  of  hearts,  for 
what  you  said,  and  for  the  terms  in  which  you 
said  it.  I  would  not  tell  you  where  I  was  going, 
for  fear  that  you  would  oppose  me ;  and  I  had 
fully  made  up  my  mind  to  do  what  I  have  done, 
and  so  I  thought  it  better  to  surprise  you.  I 
went,  accompanied  only  by  Julia,  my  servant,  to 
the  house  of  Colonel  Rawlinga,  to  whom  I  had 

(338) 


Mil.    1VES.  339 

sold  Lewis,  for  the  purpose  of  re-purchasing  him ; 
and  there  learned  that  his  declaration,  that  he 
was  buying  him  only  for  a  domestic,  was  a  mere 
ruse;  that  he  had  sold  Lewis  but  a  few  days 
before,  to  a  soul-driver,  who  had  taken  him  to  the 
western  part  of  this  state.  I  had  made  up  my 
mind  to  purchase  him,  if  it  was  possible  to  do  so ; 
and  went  on  as  rapidly  as  I  could,  until  I  found 
the  trader.  He  refused  to  sell  him  to  me,  but  I 
left  on  the  table  more  money  than  he  had  given 
for  him,  and  afterward  got  the  boy  safely  off. 
He  is  now,  I  have  reason  to  believe,  in  Canada. 
So  that  I  have  undone,  as  far  as  my  efforts  can 
effect  it,  the  one  great  wrong  of  my  life." 

"You  surprise  me,  Mary.  You — you  jour 
neyed  accompanied  only  by  your  maid,  into  the 
interior  of  the  state,  and  then  to  the  western  part 
of  it  ?  You  went  to  a  slave-trader,  and  re-pur 
chased  the  boy  ?  you  talked  with  such  a  man  ? 
I  never  have  been  so  surprised  in  my  life." 

"  There  is  nothing  strange  in  what  I  have  done, 
I  thoughtlessly  sold  Lewis,  and  afterward  saw  that 
I  had  committed  a  great  sin,  and  I  determined,  at 
every  sacrifice  of  personal  convenience,  to  undo  the 
wrong.  I  felt,  during  every  moment  of  my  j  ourney, 
a  light  heart,  I  knew  that  I  was  doing  my  duty, 
and  that  a  good  Providence  was  over,  and  pro 
tecting  me." 


340  BELLE   SCOTT. 

"  But  could  you  not  have  done  it  as  well  by  an 
ugent  ?  " 

"  No,  not  at  all.  No  agent  could  have  been 
filled  with  the  same  determined  purpose  to  accom 
plish  the  result ;  and  without  such  resolute  pur 
pose,  the  matter  could  not  have  been  accomplished. 
I  had  personally  sinned,  and  it  was  my  duty,  per 
sonally,  to  retrieve  the  wrong. 

"  I  had,  too,  another  motive.  I  know  that  you 
are  worthy  of  me,  and  I  could  not  but  feel  humbled 
when  I  thought  that  I  had  made  myself  unworthy 
of  you.  My  very  pride  would  have  been  a  suffi 
cient  motive  for  my  conduct ;  and  that  feeling,  I 
am  sure,  had  too  much  influence  in  controlling  me." 

"You  are  a  noble  girl,  Mary,  and  I  shall  love 
you,  if  possible,  more  than  I  have  ever  done,  for 
your  generous,  though  singular  conduct." 

As  Mr.  Ives  and  Mary  will  not  re-appear  upon 
our  pages,  the  reader  may  wish  to  know  the  sequel 
of  their  history. 

That  they  were  married  soon  after  the  conver 
sation  just  related,  my  lady  readers  need  not  be 
told.  But  Mr.  Ives  could  not  return  again  to 
New  Orleans,  for  all  hope  of  a  prosperous  life  there, 
was  at  an  end.  The  slaves  of  Miss  Mary  Scott 
were  all  liberated.  They  were  not  turned  out 
among  strangers,  to  begin  the  world  for  themselves 
without  the  means  of  a  comfortable  subsistence. 


HOME.  341 

They  were  brought  to  a  free  state,  and  there,  upon 
well-stocked  farms  that  Mary  and  her  husband 
carefully  aided  them  in  selecting,  were  all  settled. 
School-teachers,  and  the  means  of  religious  educa 
tion  were  provided  for  them,  and  with  many 
blessings  from  the  old  and  young — blessings  be 
stowed  and  received  with  eyes  filled  with  tears — 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ives  left  their  friends,  after  promising 
to  visit  them  often,  and  urging  them  to  write,  or 
cause  letters  to  be  written  to  them  if  anything 
should  occur  that  might  require  their  attention. 
They  then  purchased  for  themselves  a  neat  farm 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  there,  surrounded  by  kind 
neighbors  and  friends,  they  live  in  peace.  Books, 
and  flowers,  and  music,  gladden  their  passing 
hours,  and  their  home  is  rilled  with  sweetness  and 
love.  Love  to  God  and  man  fills  their  hearts,  and 
the  whole  atmosphere  around  them. 

oq 


CHAPTER     XLIII. 


SUSPENSE. 


THE  winter  passed  rapidly  away,  and  the  ten 
weeks  of  painful  suspense  were  drawing  to  an  end. 
Mr.  Reed  had  written  several  letters  to  Mr.  Still- 
man,  the  first  one  full  of  hope ;  indeed  he  stated 
that  he  had  no  doubt  whatever,  but  that  the 
identity  of  Belle  as  the  lost  child  of  Mr.  Scott, 
could  be  easily  and  fully  established.  But  his 
later  letters  chilled  all  these  fervent  hopes.  He 
took  a  copy  of  the  scrawl  in  the  Bible  with  him, 
and  had  shown  it  to  the  lawyer  employed  for 
Belle  at  Willoughby ;  who  told  him  that  it  did 
not  state  in  any  part,  either  the  name  of  the 
child  or  of  her  parents,  or  the  time  or  place  where 
the  matter  occurred.  All  that  was  stated  in  the 
writing  might  be  true,  and  still  it  might  have  no 

O  O  f  O 

reference  whatever  to  the  lost  child  of  Mr.  Scott. 
In  one  of  his  letters  of  later  date,  he  stated  that. 
his  arrangements  were  such  that  he  would  be  at 
Auburn  in  the  evening  before  the  day  set  by  the 
commissioner  for  deciding  the  case,  and  that  his 
friend  at  New  Orleans  would  reach  there  about 
the  same  time.  He  stated  also,  that  there  was  a 

0342) 


SUSPENSE.  343 

link  to  be  supplied  in  the  proof,  if  the  facts  war 
ranted  it,  and  that  was,  to  show  that  the  woman 
Minte,  who  was  sold  to  a  man  in  the  western  part 
of  Virginia  in  June,  was  the  same  woman  after 
ward  married  to  Aaron.  He  had  no  doubt  what 
ever  that  she  was  the  same,  but  as  yet  no  proof 
could  be  found  to  establish  that  essential  fact. 
How  had  Minte  been  transferred  from  Virginia 
to  Alabama  ?  by  whom  and  when  ? 

Poor  Belle  was  sinking  fast  under  the  heavy 
weight  of  her  accumulated  sorrows.  She  tried  at 
times  to  be  cheerful,  but  the  light  of  earthly  hope 
had  almost  left  her.  Her  fate  hung  upon  the 
decision  of  a  single  man.  Public  opinion  and 
the  power  of  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
and  prejudice,  were  all  on  the  side  of  her  op 
pressors. 

If  she  should  be  surrendered,  what  would  be 
her  fate  ?  Mr.  Scott  could,  if  he  chose,  put  her  as 
a  field  hand  on  a  sugar  plantation,  to  labor  under 
the  eye  of  an  overseer,  and  to  have  her  flesh  torn 
by  the  whip ;  he  could  also  sell  her,  at  a  higher 
price,  for  baser  purposes.  Thousands  of  women 
no  better  than  herself,  had  been  so  treated,  and 
what  reason  had  she  to  believe  that  her  lot  would 
be  lighter  than  theirs  ? 

Mr.  Still  man  deeply  sympathized  with  Belle, 
and  looked  forward  to  the  day  when  the  decision 


344  BELLE  scon1. 

would  be  made,  with  fear  and  trembling  and  some 
times  with  hope.  He  feared  for  the  life  and  fate 
of  the  poor  girl ;  he  feared  also  for  the  Church 
and  for  his  country.  The  decision  that  would 
send  her  back  into  slavery  would  strike  down,  as 
with  an  iron  mace,  the  religious  liberty  of  every 
man  and  woman  and  child  in  the  United  States, 
at  the  North,  at  the  South ;  at  the  East,  at  the 
West. 

It  was  clear  to  him  that  our  fathers  had  made 
one  contract  by  which  they  bound  themselves 
and  their  posterity  forever  to  aid  the  slaveholder 
in  his  sin  of  oppressing  his  fellow  man,  by  return 
ing  to  him  his  fugitive  slave ;  and  it  was  also  as 
clear  that  about  two  years  afterward  they  made 
another  contract  for  themselves  and  their  poster 
ity,  by  which  the  religious  liberty  of  each  man  in 
the  United  States  is  fully  guaranteed  and  secured  ; 
and  that  they  intended,  by  the  last  contract,  to 
repeal  all  things  in  the  former  contract  that  were 
inconsistent  with  it. 

But  would  the  commissioner  see  this  as  clearly 
as  he  saw  it?  If  he  did  so,  had  he  courage 
enough  to  adhere  to  the  truth  and  the  right,  and 
to  maintain  the  highest  right  of  each  man  in  the 
United  States  at  all  hazards  and  at  every  sacri 
fice  that  man  can  could  make  or  endure  ?  If  the 
commissioner  should  sustain  his  own  religious 


SUSPENSE.  345 

freedom,  he  would  do  so  for  all  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  If  he  betrayed  it,  he  betrayed  it 
for  all  mankind. 

Mr.  Stillman  well  knew  that  if  the  people  could 
but  see  what  really  was  at  stake  in  the  contest, 
they  would,  in  every  city  and  town  and  hamlet  in 
the  whole  land,  stand  waiting  with  eager  earnest 
ness  to  hear  the  result ;  they  would  ask  each 
other  with  quivering  lips,  are  the  rights  for  which 
our  fathers  left  their  homes  in  the  old  world  and 
fled  to  this,  when  it  was  all  a  wilderness,  yet  ours  ? 
or  are  they  taken  from  us  forever  ?  and  will  the 
men  whom  we  employ  and  pay  to  protect  us  in 
them,  betray  us  ?  Are  the  rights,  for  which  our 
fathers  bled  on  a  hundred  battle  fields,  wrested 
from  us  ?  or  are  they  safe  forever  ?  But  it  would 
require  time  to  awaken  the  people.  They  will 
look  upon  him  as  an  idle  dreamer,  who  shouts  in 
their  ears — "Your  religious  freedom  is  stricken 
down  and  wrested  from  you ! '' 

When  Daniel  was  forbidden  to  pray,  thousands 
of  men  had  the  same  interest  in  the  question  at 
stake,  that  he  had,  but  they  could  not  either  sec 
or  feel  that  any  wrong  was  done  to  them.  Thou 
sands  stood  by  when  the  Apostles  were  forbidden 
to  preach,  all  of  whom  were  as  deeply  interested  in 
the  right  they  were  asserting  as  were  the  Apostles, 
and  did  not  dream  that  any  rights  of  theirs  were 


346  BELLE    SCOTT. 

involved  in  the  contest.  And  in  this  country, 
part  of  the  people  have  made  laws  by  which  their 
own  rights,  and  those  of  all  the  people  in  the 
United  States,  to  religious  liberty,  are  stricken 
down,  and  nearly  the  whole  land  quietly  acquiesces 
in  the  wrong.  The  reason  is,  that  the  people  do 
not  feel  aggrieved  by  laws  that  are  intended  to 
oppress  the  black  race  of  men.  They  have  so 
long  looked  upon  their  oppression  as  a  thing  of 
course,  that  they  regard  it  as  right,  or  at  least  as 
inevitable. 

On  the  evening  before  the  decision  was  to  be 
made,  Mr.  Stillman's  family  could  not  rest.  As 
boats  were  heard,  passing  the  village  they  hoped 
that  some  one  of  them  would  land  and  Edgar 
Reed  would  knock  at  Mr.  Stillman's  door.  But 
the  weary  night  wore  away  and  he  came  not. 


CHAPTER     XLIV. 


THE    DECISION. 

EARLY  in  the  morning  a  pure  blue  sky,  upon 
which  the  moon  and  stars  seemed  to  have  left  still 
lingering,  part  of  their  light  and  glory,  canopied  the 
village  of  Auburn.  All  was  calm  and  sweetly  beauti 
ful,  as  if  the  spirit  of  love  and  peace  filled  the  air  and 
hovered  over  the  scene.  From  each  house  in  the 
village,  the  slowly  and  gracefully  ascending  smoke 
rose  in  white  wreaths  until  it  mingled  with  the 
air,  and  the  glorious  sun,  just  rising,  threw  his 
long  waves  of  crystal  light,  in  luxurious  beauty 
over  the  scene.  The  river  was  as  a  broad  line 
of  melted  silver,  moving  slowly  and  majestically 
on,  until  hidden  from  view  by  a  curve  in  its 
course. 

Mr.  Stillman  prayed  for  Belle,  and  sobs  from 
Mrs.  Stillman  and .  Mrs.  Johnston  drowned  his 
voice,  and  they  all  rose  in  tears.  The  ladies  em 
braced  poor  Belle,  kissed  her,  and  attired  her 
for  her  appearance  in  court. 

At  the  same  time  Mr.  Scott,  who  had  been  in 
the  village  a  day,  was  walking  toward  the  court- 

(347) 


348  BELLE    SCOTT. 

house  with  the  quick  step,  and  hard,  keen  eye  of 
a  determined  man.  By  his  side  was  a  man  whom 
he  had  engaged  to  assist  him ;  and  along  the 
street,  going  to  the  same  place,  the  commissioner, 
with  a  roll  of  paper  in  his  hand,  was  leisurely 
selecting  his  way,  so  as  to  avoid  soiling  his  polished 
boots. 

The  ring  of  the  anvil  and  the  noise  of  the  ham 
mer  stopped  as  he  passed,  and  men  put  on  their 
coats,  and  hastened  to  the  court-bouse.  It  was 
soon  filled;  but  those  who  were  soonest  there, 
were  people  of  color  from  the  village  and  the 
country,  looking  silently  and  earnestly  at  the 
gathering  crowd.  The  commissioner  took  his 
seat.  The  officer  announced  that  the  court  was 
in  session,  and  commanded  all  persons  to  keep 
silence.  By  the  side  of  the  marshal  were  fifty 
strong  men,  whom  he  had  commanded  to  aid 
him. 

Mr.  Scott  and  his  lawyers,  one  of  whom  was  a 
stranger,  and  the  assistant  he  had  employed,  seated 
themselves  at  a  long  table  in  front  of  the  com 
missioner. 

One  chair  was  yet  vacant,  and  the  people  looked 
eagerly  at  the  door  for  the  person  who  was  to 
occupy  it. 

At  length  it  opened,  and  Belle,  supported  on 
one  side  by  Mrs.  Stillman,  and  on  the  other  by 


THE    DECISION.  349 

Mrs.  Johnston,  entered  the   room.     Seats  were 
provided  for  the  group  near  the  table. 

Belle  was  radiantly  beautiful.  The  paleness,  as 
of  death,  which  had  so  long  settled  upon  her  cheek, 
now,  under  the  excitement  of  the  hour,  gave  way 
to  a  hectic  flush  that  spread  over  her  face.  Her 
eyes  were  bright  as  if  her  whole  soul  shone  through 
them.  Her  long,  jet-black  hair  hung  in  curls  over 
her  neck.  No  bride  ever  looked  more  lovely. 
But  her  attire  was  not  that  of  a  bride ;  she  was 
dressed  in  deep  mourning — an  appropriate  cos 
tume.  Over  her  countenance  despair  brooded, 
as  if  he  had  clasped  hands  with  death.  She  was 
calm  in  all  her  movements;  but  hers  was  the 
calmness  of  resignation  to  inevitable  sorrow.  Her 
eyes  were  fixed,  her  hands  clasped,  her  breathing 
short  and  quick,  as  of  a  person  who  is  suffocating. 
All  eyes,  for  an  instant,  were  fixed  upon  her,  and 
then  turned  to  the  commissioner,  who  read  his 
opinion. 


CHAPTER   XLV. 


THE    DECISION. 


"THE  evidence,"  he  said,  "proved  that  Belle 
Robinson,  the  alleged  fugitive,  had  been  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  Scott  for  many  years;  and 
during  all  that  time,  he  had  claimed  her  as  his 
slave.  Possession  of  personal  property,  especially 
when  it  is  accompanied  by  a  claim  of  ownership  on 
the  part  of  the  possessor,  is  always,  at  least,  prima 
fade  evidence  of  the  claimant's  right  to  it.  And 
as  there  is  no  evidence  in  this  case,  tending  to 
disprove  this  possession,  or  this  claim  of  ownership, 
the  court  had  no  difficulty  in  arriving  at  the  con 
clusion,  that  the  girl  in  question,  was  in  fact,  by 
the  laws  of  Louisiana,  the  property  of  the  claimant, 
John  Scott. 

"  The  next  inquiry  is :  Is  she  a  fugitive  from 
service  ? 

"  On  this  question,  the  evidence  left  no  doubt. 

The  boat  landed  for  a  moment  at  the  wharf  of 

this  town ;  it  was  nearly  night ;  and  the  defendant, 

availing  herself  of  the  confusion  occasioned  by  the 

(350) 


THE   DECISION.  351 

landing,  escaped,  in  company  with  another  person, 
also  a  fugitive  slave. 

u  This  brings  the  case  within  the  provisions  of 
the  act  of  Congress  of  1850 ;  and  if  that  law  is  in 
accordance  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  the  defendant  must  be  surrendered. 

"  It  might  not  be  out  of  place  to  advert,  for  a 
moment  only,  to  an  alleged  discovery,  that  the 
girl  Belle  is  indeed  a  free  person,  and  a  niece  of 
her  claimant.  But  no  evidence  had  been  pro 
duced,  which  even  tended  to  prove  that  the 
writing,  which  it  is  claimed  identifies  her,  has  any 
reference  to  her ;  nor  does  it  appear  by  whom,  or 
for  what  purpose,  or  when  it  was  written !  Such 
evidence  could  not  be  received  against  the  girl ; 
and  by  the  same  principle,  it  could  not  be 
received  in  her  favor.  It  would  indeed  have 
afforded  him  great  pleasure,  to  have  found  her 
free :  the  duty  before  him  was  unpleasant,  but 
still  it  is  not  the  less  a  duty, 

"  Is  the  act  in  question,  in  accordance  with  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  ? 

"  It  is  claimed  that  the  acts  of  1850,  and  1793, 
are  both  contrary  to  the  first  amendment ;  which 
provides  '  that  Congress  shall  make  no  law  respect 
ing  an  establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the 
free  exercise  thereof.1  If,  in  fact,  either  of  these 
acts  of  Congress  do,  in  any  degree,  interfere  with 


352  BELLE   SCOTT. 

the  free  exercise  of  religion — either  of  love  to 
God  or  to  man — do  impair  liberty  of  conscience ; 
then  the  acts  are  void.  Do  they  have  any  such 
effect  ?  It  is  claimed,  on  the  one  side,  that  this 
girl  is  the  property  of  the  claimant,  Mr.  Scott, 
who  perhaps,  may  have  purchased  her  with  his 
money ;  and  that  the  laws  of  the  state  in  which 
he  lives,  protect  him  in  the  enjoyment  of  this 
species  of  property,  as  they  do  of  any  other ;  and 
that  therefore,  his  right  to  the  restoration  of  it, 
rests  upon  the  same  basis,  that  it  rests  upon  as 
to  other  kinds  of  property. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  claimed  that  the 
woman  in  question,  is  a  human  being;  and  to 
surrender  her  into  slavery,  is  to  partake  of  the 
guilt  of  the  person,  who  holds  or  claims  her  as  his 
slave. 

"  This  may  be  true,  if  indeed  there  is  guilt,  in 
holding  her  as  a  slave. 

"Slavery,  in  some  form,  has  existed  from 
time  immemorial,  and  among  all  nations  of  tho 
earth. 

"  It  is  true,  that  this  does  not  prove  it  right. 
It  casts,  however,  the  burthen  of  proving  that 
it  is  wrong,  on  the  party  who  assails  it. 

"  Have  they  done  so  here  ?  The  Christian 
Scriptures  have  been  referred  to ;  and  it  must  be 
admitted,  that  the  arguments  drawn  from  them, 


THK    DECISION.  353 

have  been  presented  with  ingenuity.  On  the 
proper  exposition  of  the  Scriptures,  the  sects  into 
which  the  whole  Christian  world  has  been  divided, 
differ  in  many  important  points.  But  in  the 
rightfulness  of  slave-holding,  and  its  entire  ac 
cordance  with  the  Scriptures;  there  is  among 
the  Christians  of  the  United  States  a  singular 
unanimity  of  opinion.  Catholics  and  Protestants 
agree,  that  slave-holding  is  not  sin.  Indeed 
almost  all  the  Christian  sects  agree,  that  it  is  no 
sin,  to  hold  men  and  women  in  slavery.  They 
admit  known  slaveholders  to  their  pulpits,  and 
receive  the  sacraments  of  the  church  from  their 
hands.  They  admit  them  to  Christian  fellowship ; 
while  most  of  them  are  so  strict,  that  they 
sever  from  that  fellowship,  a  person  who  dances, 
or  even  attends  a  dance.  Thousands  of  men  who 
have  been  set  apart  to  the  office  of  the  ministry, 
and  who  have  devoted  their  lives  to  the  study  and 
exposition  of  the  Scriptures,  are  daily  proclaiming, 
by  the  most  certain  of  all  tests — their  conduct — 
that  slave-holding  is  not  sin.  This  they  do  with 
heavy  vows  upon  them,  to  rebuke  all  sin.  This 
they  daily  do ;  most  of  them  firmly  believing  in 
the  eternity  of  rewards  and  punishments.  Nearly 
all  of  these  men  are  therefore  daily,  and  with  one 
accord,  teaching  and  proclaiming  to  the  public, 
that  slave-holding  is  no  sin.  Under  these  cir- 


354  BELLE    SCOTT. 

cumstances,  it  would  at  least  be  an  act  of  rashness 
in  the  court,  to  dissent  from  their  continued  and 
united  testimony. 

"I  therefore  adjudge  that  Belle  Robinson  is  a 
fugitive  slave,  and  that  she  be  restored  to  her 
owner,  John  Scott." 

The  judge  now  signed  a  paper,  already  drawn 
up,  and  handed  it  to  the  marshal. 

The  marshal  conversed  for  a  moment  in  a  low 
voice  with  Mr.  Scott.  He  then  approached  Belle, 
and  laid  his  hand  on  her  shoulder:  "You  must 
now  go  with  your  master."  A  loud  shriek  was 
heard  from  Mrs.  Johnston.  Mrs.  Stillman  became 
pale  as  a  corpse ;  a  thrill  ran  through  all  the 
spectators  in  the  court-room.  The  judge  folded 
up  his  papers,  and  was  about  to  leave  the  bench, 
but  before  he  did  so,  said,  "he  had  heard  that 
evidence  was  expected  that  day,  to  identify 
the  girl  as  a  free  person.  If  it  came  before  the 
marshal  had  finally  executed  his  order,  by  taking 
the  girl  out  of  the  state,  he  would  hear  the  evi 
dence."  He  then  left  the  court-house. 

The  deep,  cold,  gray  eyes  of  Mr.  Scott,  glared 
like  those  of  a  tiger.  The  prey  was  his.  He 
seized  Belle,  and  drawing  out  a  pair  of  handcuffs, 
placed  them  upon  her  wrists.  The  poor  girl  raised 
her  eyes  and  her  manacled  hands,  appealing 
to  Heaven,  and  found  relief  from  her  agony 


THE    DECISION.  355 

in  a  burst  of  frantic  grief.  u  Why  was  I  snatched 
from  the  fire  to  endure  the  deeper  horrors  of  this 
hour  ?  Why  was  I  born  into  this  world,  to  find 
in  it  nothing  but  unmingled  sorrow  and  suffering?'"1 

Mrs.  Johnston  joined  in  her  cries ;  turning  to 
the  men  around  her,  she  asked  them  why  they  who 
so  bravely  rescued  the  poor  girl  from  death,  now 
stood  calmly  while  a  worse  fate  awaited  her  ?  She 
called  on  Hulbert,  to  make  one  more  effort  to 
save  the  poor  girl  for  whom  he  had  once  periled 
his  life. 

Hulbert  asked  Mr.  Scott  what  price  he  would 
take  for  her  ? 

"  No  price  shall  buy  her.  I  will  make  an  ex 
ample  of  her,  sir.  I  have  raised  her  tenderly  as 
my  own  child.  I  '11  now  send  her  into  the  cot 
ton-field  as  a  hand,  or  I  '11  send  her  to  Cuba,  and 
sell  her  there.  Your  town  is  not  able  to  produce 
the  sum,  sir — she  is  not  for  sale ;  I  have  always 
told  inquirers  that  no  price  will  buy  her." 


CHAPTER    XLVI. 


THE    SURRENDER. 

MRS.  STILLMAN  embraced  Belle  once  more  and 
kissed  her.  The  sad  procession  moved  from  the 
court-house  down  to  the  bank  of  the  river. 
Mrs.  Johnston  quickly  descended  the  bank  in 
advance  of  the  party ;  went  to  a  ferry-boat 
chained  at  the  wharf;  locked  the  chain  by  which 
it  was  fastened,  and  put  the  key  in  her  pocket. 
The  marshal  said  to  her  : 

"This  is  a  public  ferry;  I  want  to  cross  the  river.'1 

"  The  ferry  is  mine — the  boat  is  mine,  and  you 
shall  not  have  it  for  the  purpose  of  taking  that 
poor  girl  out  of  Ohio.  My  boat  was  not  made 
to  carry  her  (pointing  to  Belle)  where  she  may 
be  scourged  until  the  blood  from  her  torn  flesh 
falls  upon  the  ground — to  carry  her  where  she 
may  be  sent  as  a  laborer  into  the  cotton-field,  to 
toil  all  day  in  the  sun,  without  even  the  promise 
of  reward.'' 

Poor,  poor  Belle !  hope  had  fled ;  she  was  sad 
as  those  who  meet  death  in  despair.     Her  senses 
seemed  benumbed,  her  lips  were  white,  and  her 
(Wt) 


THE   SURRENDER.  357 

tall  form,  and  face  deadly  pale,  would  have  made 
a  fit  model  for  an  artist,  to  paint  the  mingled 
emotions  of  despair  and  horror. 

A  great  crowd  was  assembled  upon  the  shore, 
to  witness  the  departure  of  the  girl  (as  they 
called  her)  and  her  master.  Mrs.  Johnston 
moved  about  in  this  assembly,  and  tried  ever}' 
effort,  but  in  vain,  to  induce  them  to  rescue  Belle 
by  force.  Two  young  men  said,  "they  were 
willing  to  do  so,  if  enough  could  be  found  to  aid 
in  the  enterprise."  Others  said,  "it  is  a  sin, 
and  a  shame  for  her  master  to  take  her  away ; 
but  they  must  submit  to  the  laws  of  the  coun 
try,  until  those  laws  shall  be  repealed/' 

"Are  you  not  convinced  that  the  acts  you 
speak  of,  are  unconstitutional  and  void  ? "  said 
Mrs.  Johnston. 

"  Yes,"'  they  replied,  "  we  have  no  doubt  but 
that  they  are  unconstitutional;  but  until  some 
court  shall  declare  them  so,  we  are  bound,  as  good 
citizens,  to  obey  them." 

"  Then,  if  Congress  should  command  you  to 
worship  an  idol,  you  would  worship  it,"  said  Mrs. 
Johnston,  "  for  four  or  five  years,  till  some  judge 
said  the  law  was  void ;  and  if  the  judge  was  him 
self  an  idolater,  and  decided  it  was  not  void, 
you  would,  of  course,  continue  to  worship  the 

idol  all  your  lives  ?  " 
'  30 


358  BELLE   SCOTT. 

"But  this  case  seems  to  us,  to  be  different," 
said  the  men. 

"  How  is  it  different  ? ' '  said  Mrs.  Johnston. 
"  Idolatry  was  the  sin  of  the  Roman  empire,  as 
slavery  is  the  sin  of  America.  It  is  as  gross  a 
sin  to  enslave  a  human  being,  as  it  is  to  worship 
an  idol ;  and  the  surrender  of  this  poor  girl  into 
slavery,  is  just  as  bad  as  it  would  be  to  pray 
in  an  idol's  temple.  Will  you  as  Americans, 
submit  to  such  outrages  openly  practiced  before 
your  eyes  ?  You  are  entitled,  each  man  of  you, 
to  the  protection  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States ;  and  are  recreant  to  liberty,  if  you 
allow  such  outrages  upon  your  greatest  rights. 
Your  rights,  in  this  matter,  are  the  rights  of  all 
men ;  what  you  maintain  for  yourselves,  you 
maintain  for  the  whole  race  of  man :  and  if  you 
betray  them,  you  do  so  for  the  whole  human 
race." 

"  That  looks  like  Nullification,"  said  a  man  in 
the  crowd. 

"  I  don't  care  what  it  looks  like,"  replied  Mrs. 
Johnston.  "  The  acts  of  Congress  on  this  sub 
ject  are  void,  and  he  who  maintains  them,  does 
not  support  the  Constitution  of  his  country,  but 
tramples  that  Constitution  under  his  feet.  Daniel, 
when  he  was  forbidden  to  pray,  and  the  Apostles, 
when  they  were  forbidden  to  preach,  had  to  such 


THE    SURRENDER.  359 

constitutional  rights  as  we  have,  and  yet  they 
obeyed  God  rather  than  man.  You  will  be  doubly 
recreant  to  your  duty,  if  with  a  constitutional  pro 
vision  made  by  your  fathers,  for  the  very  purpose 
of  making  all  laws  that  interfere  with  religious 
duty,  merely  nullities  and  utterly  void,  you  obey 
such  laws  and  permit  them  to  be  carried  into 
effect  before  your  very  eyes." 

'•'That  looks  like  the  truth,  said  one  of  the 
men ;  but  wTe  fear  the  consequences.  It  may  be 
better  to  let  such  wrongs  pass  for  the  present, 
believing,  as  we  do,  that  this  reign  of  terror  will 
soon  end." 

•"'Yes,''  said  Mrs.  Johnston,  "but  in  the  mean 
time  this  poor  girl  will  be  murdered,  and  then 
what  will  be  your  share  of  the  guilt  of  her '  taking 
off?'" 

The  marshal  sent  one  of  his  men  to  a  neighbor 
ing  grogshop,  and  a  large  crew  of  half-drunken 
men  came  shouting  at  his  heels,  to  prevent  a  rescue. 
They  were  loud  in  their  professions  of  love  for  the 
laws  of  the  country,  and  for  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  and  for  the  Union.  Men  were 
in  the  gang,  whose  only  virtue  was  their  patriotism; 
who  respected  no  law  that  interfered  with  the 
indulgence  of  their  impulses  and  appetites,  but 
who  now  were  found  to  love  one  of  the  laws  of  the 
countrv.  The  basest  loved  the  act  the  best.  The 


360  Bl&LE   SCOTT. 

most  worthless  were  the  most  ready  to  lend  their 
aid  to  carry  it  into  execution. 

Mr.  Scott  passed  from  one  point  to  another, 
amid  the  crowd,  silent,  with  compressed  lips  and 
flashing  eyes,  apparently  enraged  at  the  unex 
pected  delay.  At  last  a  boat  was  seen  ascending  the 
river.  The  littleparty  around  Belle,  now  gathered 
still  closer  to  her.  Mrs.  Johnston,  again  and  again 
folded  her  in  her  arms,  and  wept  in  an  agony  of 
passionate  grief.  Mrs.  Stillman,  in  tears,  embraced 
her,  and  begged  God's  blessing  upon  her.  Mr. 
Stillman  took  both  her  manacled  hands  in  his,  and 
prayed  aloud  for  God's  blessing,  and  that  he  would 
yet  deliver  her ;  he  prayed  in  agony,  as  though 
he  would  take  by  force,  the  boon  he  craved — as  a 
mother  prays  who  begs  for  the  life  of  her  only  son. 
The  boat  landed  for  a  moment,  and  the  party 
moved  toward  it;  but  the  voice  of  Captain 
McBride  rang  out :  "  You  can't  bring  your  slave 
on  board  this  boat,  sir.  I've  made  my  boat  a 
floating  slave-pen  long  enough,  and  will  do  so  no 
more.  Mr.  Scott  stopped,  and  cast  at  the  cap 
tain  a  look  full  of  rage  and  contempt. 

At  this  time  three  persons  were  seen  descend 
ing  from  the  boat ;  one,  a  man  about  sixty  years 
of  age,  with  white  hair,  and  shabbily  dressed; 
another,  a  woman  who  took  the  arm  of  a  gentle 
man  by  her  side,  as  they  v.alked  up  'the  bank  of 


MR.  SCOTT.  361 

the  river,  and  who  appeared  to  be  a  few  years  his 
senior.  When  she  first  stepped  ashore,  she  made 
a  low  courtsey  to  the  first  person  she  met,  and  said, 
she  was  mighty  glad  to  see  him,  and  continued 
from  time  to  time  to  courtsey  to  the  persons  she 
passed,  until  the  pair  moved  out  of  sight. 

The  gentleman  walked  on  apparently  without 
seeing  any  one. 

Another  person  got  oft*  the  boat,  but  he  stood  to 
watch  the  landing  of  a  pair  of  fine  bay  horses 
which  he  had  in  charge.  He  was  a  tall  man,  a 
little  lame,  and  with  a  benevolent  and  humorous 
expression  upon  his  face. 

After  the  horses  were  safely  landed,  he  followed 
the  three  other  persons  up  the  bank ;  the  horses, 
led  by  a  hostler  from  the  tavern,  followed  him. 

Mr.  Scott  looked  at  the  man  who  first  went  up, 
carelessly,  then  with  a  searching  and  curious  gaze* 
and  a  shade  of  anxiety  passed  over  his  face.  He 
looked  too,  at  the  other  man,  and  became  pale. 
As  soon  as  they  were  out  of  sight,  he  offered  a 
hundred  dollars  to  any  one  who  would  put  his 
party  across  the  river  in  half  an  hour.  But  there 
was  only  one  ferry  at  that  place,  and  the  next, 
either  above  or  below,  was  several  miles  off;  no 
other  boat  could  be  had.  The  firemen  and  deck 
hands  on  the  steamboat,  as  soon  as  they  heard 
the  captain  say,  "  that  it  should  never  again  be 


362  IU;LLI':  SCOTT. 

made  a  iloating  slave-pen,"  set  up  a  loud  hurrah 
for  Captain  McBride — and  in  the  midst  of  it  the 
boat  went  on  her  course. 

The  whole  party  were  about  to  move  from  the 
bank,  and  go  back  to  the  tavern  or  to  their  homes, 
when  the  sound  of  another  boat  was  heard.  They 
lingered,  and  it  came  slowly  on.  It  was  running 
upon  one  wheel  only.  The  boat  had  broken  her 
shaft,  and  like  a  crippled  bird,  at  last  came  ashore. 
Before  she  did  so,  a  person  was  seen  upon  her 
hurricane  deck  waving  his  hand  and  handkerchief; 
when  he  came  near  enough,  he  was  known  by  all 
as  the  young  printer,  Edgar  Reed.  A  loud  shout 
arose  from  the  greater  part  of  the  crowd,  while 
his  confident  air  and  manner  told  them  that 
relief  was  at  hand.  A  venerable  looking  gentle 
man,  carefully  dressed  in  black,  supported  by  a 
gold  headed  cane,  came  ashore,  and  close  by 
followed  Edgar  Reed,  who  first  eagerly  inquired 
for  Mr.  Carter ;  if  he  had  arrived  ?  No  one  knew 
Mr.  Carter,  but  he  was  told  that  a  man  with  a 
pair  of  fine  horses  had  just  got  off  a  boat  and 
gone  up  to  the  tavern.  He  smiled  and  said,  all 
is  right.  He  then  went  up  to  Belle  and  bade 
her  be  of  good  cheer.  He  was  shocked  when  he 
found  her  manacled  and  heard  that  the  trial  was 
over.  He  then  found  Mr.  Scott,  and  told  him 
he  had  on  hand  evidence  that  Belle  was  his 


HOPE.  363 

niece,  and  that  he  knew  it,  and  that  if  he  attempted 
to  take  her  out  of  the  state  he  should  be  instantly 
arrested  as  a  criminal.  After  a  brief  conversation, 
the  manacles  were  taken  from  Belle's  hands,  and 
the  party  went  to  the  tavern. 


CHAPTER    XLVII. 


THE   SDRRENDEE. 


MR.  SCOTT  walked  quickly  across  the  room 
several  times,  with  his  hands  clasped  behind  him, 
and  then  turning  said :  "  What  are  we  here  for  ? 
What  do  you  want  with  me  ?  " 

"  We  have  met  here  to  see  if  we  can  compromise 
this  matter." 

"Well,  what  terms  do  you  offer?  " 

"We  wish  you  to  recognize  Belle  as  the  only 
child  and  heiress  of  your  brother.'' 

Mr.  Scott  staggered  back  as  if  one  had  struck 
him,  and  said,  "  She  my  brother's  child  ?  preposter 
ous.  I  will  submit  to  no  such  imposition,  sir.  I 
have  heard,  since  I  came  here,  that  some  such 
story  has  been  afloat,  but  by  whom  it  has  been 
started,  or  for  what  purpose  other  than  to  make 
a  nine  days'  wonder,  and  excite  sympathy  for  the 
fugitive,  I  do  not  know.5' 

"Is  this  your  answer  to  my  proposition  to 
compromise?  I  make  it,  sir,  said  a  lawyer 
Mr.  Reed  hnd  employed.  "  to  save  you  from 
(364) 


THE    COMPROMISE.  365 

exposure,  and,  perhaps,  more  disastrous  conse 
quences." 

"  Exposure — consequences !  "  said  Mr.  Scott ; 
"I  neither  heed  the  one  nor  the  other." 

The  lawyer,  Mr.  Hinman,  now  said :  "  I  see, 
Mr.  Scott,  that  you  are  not  fully  informed  of  the 
position  we  occupy.  I  have  here,  in  my  hand,  a 
bill  in  chancery  drawn  up  in  Willoughby,  and 
brought  with  me,  hoping  that  you  will  compro 
mise  the  case,  and  save  the  expenses  and  other 
incidents  of  litigation.  It  is  at  your  service  to 
read." 

Mr.  Scott  sat  down  and  read  the  paper,  which 
gave  in  detail,  with  dates  and  places,  a  concise 
history  of  his  treatment  to  Belle,  and  asked  that 
he  should  be  compelled  to  pay  over  to  her  all 
moneys  and  property  that  he  had  received  from 
his  brother's  estate. 

He  read  it  carefully,  folded  his  spectacles, 
placed  them  in  their  case,  and  then  said :  "  Well, 
here  are  assertions  enough,  but  as  I  certainly  shall 
deny  every  one  of  them  that  is  material  to  the 
controversy,  you,  of  course,  expect  to  prove 
them ;  "  and  then,  in  rather  a  louder  tone,  "  Where 
is  your  proof?  " 

Mr.  Hinman  quietly  replied :  "  Our  proof,  sir, 
is  in  this  village." 


366  BELLE    SCOTT. 

Mr.  Scott:  "Who  have  you  here  that  knows 
airy  thing  about  this  girl  ?  " 

"We  have  Dr.  Bryce,  from  Willoughby,  who 
has  already  seen  and  examined  her,  and  is  willing 
to  swear  that  he  has  no  doubt  of  her  being  the 
child  of  your  brother.  Dr.  Bryce,  you  know,  was 
the  family  physician  of  your  brother  ?  " 

Mr.  Scott :  "  Where  is  he  ? " 

"He  is  in  this  house,  sir." 

Mr.  Scott  paused,  looked  embarrassed,  and 
then,  without  waiting  for  Mr.  Hinman  to  complete 
his  statement,  said : 

"  I  never  cared  a  straw  about  keeping  the  girl 
as  a  slave.  If  she  is  willing  to  leave  and  go  im 
mediately  to  Scotland,  where  her  grandfather  came 
from,  I  will  defray  the  expenses  of  her  trip,  and 
in  addition  to  that,  will  give  her  an  annuity  so 
long  as  she  will  stay  there.  She  has  many  re 
lations  in  Scotland,  who,  no  doubt,  will  receive  her 
gladly,  if  she  can  find  them  and  establish  the 
relationship.'' 

"  That  will  not  do,  sir.  We  have  invited  this 
meeting  for  your  benefit ;  not  for  hers.  Nothing 
less  than  an  unconditional  acknowledgment  of  all 
her  rights,  and  her  full  restitution  to  whatever 
property  she  is  entitled,  will  answer  our  purpose.11 

"  Restoration !  property  !"  said  Mr.  Scott ;  "it  is 
enough  that  I  give  her  freedom  nnd  an  annuity." 


THE    COMPROMISE.  367 

"  Indeed,  sir,  you  are  greatly  mistaken.  But  I 
must  leave  this  place  and  return,  early  to-morrow 
morning,  to  Virginia.  We  are  but,  wasting  time 
in  fruitless  efforts  to  compromise.  We  have 
witnesses,  sir,  here  in  this  house,  whom  I  have 
seen  and  conversed  with,  whose  testimony  will, 
without  doubt,  fully  identify  my  client  as  the 
only  child  and  heir-at-law  of  your  brother." 

"What  other  witnesses  have  you  than  Dr. 
Biyce  ?" 

Mr.  Hinman  stood  quietly  before  Mr.  Scott, 
looked  him  fully  in  the  face,  and  said  in  a  low, 
firm  voice,  we  have  here  the  Rev.  Mr.  St.  John ; 
and  opening  a  door  he  invited  Mr.  St.  John  into 
the  room. 

The  reverend  gentleman  and  Mr.  Scott  looked 
at  each  other,  and  both  were  embarrassed.  Mr. 
St,  John  extended  his  hand  ;  Mr.  Scott  took  it 
coldly  and  timidly. 

"I  have  come  here  as  a  witness  against  you, 
sir:  I  regret  it,  and  still  more  deeply  regret 
the  agency  that  my  friend  and  parishioner  has 
had  in  this  unfortunate  transaction.  I  recollect 
all  his  conversation  as  distinctly  as  if  it  occurred 
but  yesterday,  and  I  am  now  willing  to  testify  to 
the  whole  of  it,  from  the  hour  that  he  first  saw 
this  child  to  that  when  he  saw  her  at  your  house, 
five  years  ago." 


368  BELLE   SCOTT. 

"  Who  is  this  friend  and  parishioner  of  whom 
you  speak?" 

"Col.  Bennett  Leathers,  sir." 

"  Where  is  he  ?" 

"  He  is  dead,  sir.  He  died  four  years  ago,  in 
Alabama,  where  he  resided  for  the  last  twenty 
years  of  his  life.  I  was  with  him  in  his  last  sick 
ness,  and  heard  from  his  own  lips  on  his  deathbed, 
only  a  few  hours  before  he  died,  a  full  state 
ment  of  his  agency  in  this  affair." 

"Why  have  you  not  sooner  disclosed  it?" 

"Because  I  got  it  from  a  dying  man  under 
the  injunction  of  secrecy,  until  the  proper  time 
should  arrive  to  disclose  it :  that  time  has  now 
come." 

Mr.  Scott  said  with  a  sneer,  "  The  statements 
of  a  dead  man  cannot  affect  me.  They  were 
probably  the  ravings  of  delirium ;  at  all  events, 
it  is  not  evidence." 

Mr.  Hinman  said,  "  That  is  true,  sir,  but  we 
have  living  witnesses  in  this  house,  whose  testi 
mony  cannot  be  so  easily  got  rid  of;  if  you  please, 
I  will  introduce  you  to  my  friend  Mr.  Strong." 

A  poor,  dilapidated,  worn-out  old  man,  whose 
hands  shook  as  with  an  ague,  gracefully  bowed 
to  Mr.  Scott. 

Mr.  Scott  returned  his  salutation  by  coldly 
saying,  "  What  do  you  know  of  this  matter,  sir  ?" 


HON.    JOHN    STRONG.  369 

"I  know  nothing  whatever  of  the  immediate 
transaction,  sir.  In  the  month  of  June,  twenty 
years  ago,  I  sold  to  a  partner  of  Williams  the 
negro  trader,  a  girl  named  Patsy;  I  was  then 
living  with  my  family  in  Washington  City.  The 
bill  of  sale  handed  me  by  the  trader,  was  a 
common  printed  blank  form  for  such  papers,  and 
I  inadvertently  signed  it,  without  first  striking 
out  the  usual  warranty,  that  the  article  sold  is 
sound.  Very  soon  afterward,  Williams  sued  me 
on  the  contract  for  a  return  of  the  purchase 
money;  a  suit  which  ruined  myself  and  my  family. 
I  defended  the  suit,  and  in  the  course  of  prepara 
tion  for  the  trial,  it  became  necessary  for  me  to 
go  into  Virginia  to  cross-examine  a  witness  whose 
deposition  Williams  took  to  prove  the  death  of 
the  girl.  I  did  so.  The  witness  was  a  farmer 
named  Hilliard.  Afterward  I  met  the  same  man 
in  the  south-eastern  part  of  Alabama;  to  which 
place  he  removed  soon  after  he  gave  his  deposi 
tion. 

"He  bought  a  woman  named  Minte,  at  the 
time  the  girl  died  that  I  sold  to  Williams,  and  he 
saw  the  girl  both  before  and  after  her  death.  He 
told  me,  that  he  brought  Minte  with  him  to 
Alabama." 

"  Well,  but  what  has  all  this  to  do  with  the 
matter  in  controversy  here  ?  v  said  Mr.  Scott. 


370  BELLE   SCOTT. 

"It  has  this,"  said  Mr.  Hinman,  "this  woman, 
Minte,  was  the  nurse  of  your  brother's  child." 

"  Another  dead  witness !  "  sneered  Mr.  Scott. 

"  The  dead  leave  traces  behind  them ! "  said 
Mr.  Hinman. 

Mr.  Scott  said :  "  What  traces  has  this  negress 
left,  that  affect  me  ? " 

"  This  book,  sir,  and  these  marks." 

Dr.  Bryce  was  then  called  upon.  The  passage 
in  the  book  which  was  so  covered  and  obscured 
that  Belle  could  not  read  it,  had  been  submitted 
to  some  chemical  process  that  removed  the  ob 
scuring  matter,  and  brought  out  distinctly  all  the 
letters.  It  was  a  statement  that  the  middle  and 
little  fingers,  on  the  left  hand  of  the  child,  were 
grown  together  as  far  up  as  the  second  joint,  and 
that  Dr.  Bryce  had  cut  them  apart. 

Dr.  Bryce  produced  an  old  day-book,  in  which 
he  had  made  an  entry  of  the  fact,  that  he  had 
performed  the  operation  on  Mr.  Scott's  child. 
Belle  was  brought  in,  her  fingers  closely  exam 
ined,  and  the  scars  .were  there. 

Mr.  Scott  reeled  and  sank  back  in  his  chair — 
looked  around  him  as  if  for  aid,  and  closed  his 
eyes ;  then  starting  he  piteously  inquired,  "  Have 
I  no  rights  here  ?  " 

"Certainly   you   have,''    said,   Mr.    liinman, 
"  and  all  your  rights  shall  be  respected.    It  is  your 


THE   COMPROMISE.  371 

'wrongs  that  we  are  opposing:  every  wrong  re 
dressed  is  a  right  established." 

Mr.  Scott  interrupting  and  turning  to  Mr. 
Hinman  said, "  I  will  give  half  her  fortune  and 
her  freedom  for  the  sake  of  peace.  Will  not  that 
satisfy  you  ?  " 

Mr.  Hinman,  coldly  and  rather  contemptuously: 
"  No,  sir.  It  is  growing  late ;  I  must  leave  to 
morrow  ;  time  passes  swiftly.  Make  your  last 
offer  or  we  shall  abandon  the  conference,  and  you 
can  anticipate  the  result." 

Mr.  Scott:  "I  have  laid  out  thousands  of 
dollars  on  Belle's  education  and  maintenance. 
Can  you  not  let  me  have  that  and  interest? 
her  fortune  is  large  ;  I  am  her  only  uncle — she  can 
well  spare  it ;  only  repay  me  what  I  have  expended 
on  her  without  interest," 

Mr.  Hinman :  "  You  expended  that  money 
( if  indeed  it  has  cost  so  much )  without  her 
request,  and  while  you  were  doing  so  you  were 
holding  her  iniquitously  as  a  slave !  " 

Mr.  Scott :  "  I  will  not  contend ;  let  me  have 
ten  thousand  dollars  and  I  will  be  content ; 
she  can  spare  it ;  she  will  not  even  feel  the 
loss  of  so  small  a  sum,  and  then  we  will  part  in 
peace,  and  she  and  I  will  be  friends." 

Mr.  Hinman,  impatiently  :  "  Not  a  cent !  not 
a  cent,  sir!'' 


372  BELLE   SCOTT. 

Mr.  Scott:  "What  then  do  I  gain  by  the 
compromise  ?'' 

"  You  gain  this,  sir ;  you  are  saved  from  the 
public  exposure  of  this  transaction ;  the  expenses 
of  a  lawsuit,  and  it  may  be,  from  legal  proceedings 
of  a  criminal  nature." 

Mr.  Scott  turned  pale,  sat  in  silence  a  minute 
and  then  said :  "  I  am  innocent,  but  circumstances 
seem  to  be  against  me ;  draw  up  the  necessary 
papers  for  my  signature  and  I  will  take  the  advice 
of  my  attorney  upon  them." 

Mr.  Hinman :  "  Your  attorney  is  now  here," 
bowing  to  him,  "  I  hope  to  have  his  aid  in  draw 
ing  up  the  papers,  and  will  do  so  instantly."  He 
then  sat  down  and  wrote,  for  Belle  had  request 
ed  it,  a  deed  of  emancipation  for  her,  and  another 
paper  by  which  Mr.  Scott,  under  his  hand  and 
seal,  acknowledged  Belle  to  be  the  only  child 
and  heir-at-law  of  his  brother,  promising  to  ac 
count  to  her  or  her  attorney  for  whatever  money 
or  personal  property  he  had  received  of  the  estate, 
and  resigning  his  office  of  administrator  of  that 
estate.  This  was  carefully  read,  signed,  sealed 
and  attested  in  due  form  by  witnesses. 


CHAPTER    XLVIII. 


DREAM. 


WHEN  Scott  left  Auburn,  accompanied  by  his 
lawyer,  he  did  so  on  board  a  steamboat  bound  for 
Wheeling.  He  was  harassed  in  mind,  and  wearied 
with  the  excitement  and  labor  of  the  day,  dejected 
and  melancholy.  Late  at  night  he  aroused  his 
friend,  and  said : 

"  I  have  had  a  horrid  dream.  I  thought  I  was 
in  a  strange  country ;  there  was  a  house  which  I 
knew  to  be  mine ;  I  was  to  live  in  it  alone.  By 
the  side  of  the  house,  and  not  far  from  it,  was  an 
outbuilding  thatched  with  straw.  I  stood  quite 
near  it,  and  saw  a  pale-yellow  flame  ascending 
from  the  straw,  and  looked,  but  the  straw  was  not 
consumed.  I  was  about  to  call  for  help  when  I 
saw  two  men  near  me.  They  looked  at  the  flame, 
and  then  steadily  at  each  other,  with  meaning  and 
deep  melancholy  in  their  faces,  and  without  saying 
a  word,  went  away.  I  awoke." 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Ellerton,  "I  see  nothing 
remarkable  in  your  dream,  that  you  should 
be  alarmed  about  it.  You  are  nervous  and 

(373) 


574  BELLE     SCO'lT. 

excited;  to-morrow  you  will  be  refreshed  and 
better." 

"  I  do  see  something  in  it  that  I  never  saw  before. 
That  house  is  my  home ;  that  flame  that  burned, 
and  consumed  not,  must,  therefore,  last  forever ; 
those  melancholy  men  have  gone  to  that  place  be 
fore  me,  and  know  what  it  means." 

He  laid  down,  and  after  a  brief  sleep,  again 
awakened  his  companion,  and  said  i 

"I  have  had  another  horrid  dream.  A  great 
black  dog  was  about  to  attack  me.  I  felt  utterly 
helpless ;  a  man  came  and  drove  him  away,  and 
said,  '  He  will  see  you  again  at  nine  o'clock  to 
morrow.'  What  can  that  mean  ?  I  am  not 
superstitious,  but  I  never  before  have  had  such 
impressions  from  dreams.  They  seem  to  mean 
something." 

"  Oh,  my  dear  sir,"  said  Mr.  Ellerton,  "  your 
whole  nervous  system  has  been  shocked  almost 
beyond  endurance,  to-day.  The  slamming  of  a 
door  would  startle  you  now,  more  than  would  the 
firing  of  a  pistol  at  another  time.  Compose  your 
self,  and  after  the  night's  rest  you  will  be  better, 
and  laugh  at  what  now  strangely  enough  startles 
you."' 

The  next  day  Mr.  Scott  arose  pale  and  haggard. 
After  breakfast  he  sat  in  the  cabin  alone,  till  he 
became  weary,  and  then  went  out  upon  the  upper 


MK.  S.OTT'S  DEATH.  375 

deck  of  the  boat,  arid  looked  at  the  beautiful 
scenery  on  the  Ohio  and  Virginia  shores.  As  he 
was  about  to  descend,  the  boat  made  a  lurch  from 
.some  obstacle  it  met  with — his  foot  slipped,  the 
cry  was  raised  :  "  A  man  overboard  !  "  Two  boys 
were  sent  out  with  a  boat  to  pick  him  up;  the 
steamboat  paused  for  a  moment,  and  the  boys 
came  back  with  a  hat,  in  which  was  written,  "  John 
Scott."  They  were  taken  in,  and  the  boat  went 
on  her  way. 

A  lady  and  gentleman  who  were  standing  at  a 
back  window  of  the  cabin  looked  out  on  the  scene ; 
saw  the  arm  of  the  sinking  man  for  a  moment ;  saw 
the  boys  pick  up  his  hat  and  return.  The  lady 
shed  tears,  and  was  sad ;  she  did  not  know  the  name 
or  the  history  of  him  who  was  lost;  she  knew 
only  that  a  brother  had  gona  to  his  long  home, 
and  that  grief  must  fill  the  hearts  of  some  house 
hold  when  they  would  learn  his  fate. 


CHAPTER     XLIX. 


COL.    LEATHERS. 

FIFTEEN  years  have  rapidly  passed  over  the 
married  life  of  Bennett  Leathers.  He  has  been 
made  wiser,  by  his  increasing  years.  His  wild 
lands  have  greatly  risen  in  value.  He  has  sold 
them,  and  their  proceeds,  added  to  the  fortune  he 
obtained  by  his  wife,  have  made  him  rich.  He 
is  now  Colonel  Leathers,  and  has  often  been  a 
member  of  the  Legislature;  and  has  been  talked 
of  by  his  friends,  as  a  suitable  person  for  Gov 
ernor  of  the  state.  Some  indeed,  have  gone  so 
far  as  to  hint,  that  he  should  be  President 
of  the  United  States.  But  Colonel  Leathers  has 
always  disclaimed  any  such  wish;  and  has  fre 
quently  said  to  his  friends,  that  he  is  sighing  for 
retirement,  and  the  peace  and  comfort  of  domes 
tic  life. 

The  services  that  have  given  him  distinction, 
are  but  the  outgrowth  of  the  principles  of  his 
early  life.  He  has  been  a  consistent  statesman. 
A  single  profound  thought,  has  given  unity  of 
purpose  to  all  his  political  life. 

(376} 


COL.    LEATHERS.  377 

All  negroes  and  mulattoes  would  be  better  off 
if  they  were  slaves.  This  has  been  the  maxim 
that  his  partisans  have  always  carried  upon  his 
banner  in  every  contested  election ;  and  under  it, 
he  has  always  triumphed.  And  when  a  grateful 
posterity  shall  strike  coins  to  commemorate  his 
virtues,  this  must  be  the  motto  which  they  will 
place  upon  them. 

Acting  steadily  upon  this  principle,  the  world 
is  indebted  to  him,  for  the  profound  policy  exhib 
ited  in  the  statute  books  of  some  of  our  sister 
republican  states ;  by  which  all  free  persons  of 
color,  are  driven  from  the  state,  as  a  punishment 
for  their  impudence  in  being  free ;  and  under 
which,  so  many  free  persons  of  color,  from  the 
free  states,  have  been  imprisoned,  and  sold  into 
slavery,  for  the  gross  crime  of  breathing  the  air, 
or  treading  the  soil  of  those  states. 

His  zeal  against  all  Abolitionists,  has  increased 
with  his  years.  He  always  looked  upon  the 
whole  race  with  as  much  contempt,  as  so  amiable 
a  gentleman  can  entertain  for  any  persons.  But 
still,  he  has  had  some  compassion  for  their  errors. 
He  knows  how  weak  human  nature  is,  and  how 
deluded  even  honest  men  may  be.  He  has  not 
therefore,  ever  suffered  his  feelings  so  far  to 
master  his  judgment,  as  to  be  willing  to  hang 
any  of  these  poor  creatures,  who  may  by  chance 


0?8  BELLE    SCOTT. 

have  fallen  into  his  power.  To  whip  them,  or  tar 
and  feather  them,  has  always  seemed  to  him,  to 
be  just  judgment  in  mercy.  With  Mrs.  Leathers, 
the  world  has  not  gone  on  quite  so  well. 

What  trifling  incidents  affect  the  happiness  of 
life !  A  spark,  light  as  the  feather  from  a 
swallow's  wing,  may  fall  on  the  ground,  and  perish 
as  it  falls.  Another  spark  as  light,  may  fall  in 
the  swallow's  abandoned  nest,  and  set  fire  to  the 
contents,  and  then  to  the  roof  of  the  house  to 
which  it  is  built,  and  the  house  and  a  city  may,  in 
an  hour,  be  but  a  mass  of  smoking  ruins.  Com 
mercial  disasters  may  follow  from  this  misfortune, 
and  their  effects  may  be  felt  around  the  world. 

One  day,  as  Mrs.  Leathers  was  quietly  seated 
in  her  chamber  in  the  second  story  of  her  house. 
a  robin  flew  into  the  room.  The  scared  bird 
fluttered  from  place  to  place,  in  its  efforts  to 
escape ;  and  as  it  did  so,  it  brushed  from  the 
muntlepiece  a  tumbler,  which  fell  on  the  hearth. 
"  Oh,  my  teeth ! "  said  Mrs.  Leathers ;  but  do 
not  imagine,  reader,  that  any  sudden  pangs  of 
toothache  afflicted  the  lady.  She  had  outlived 
all  such  infirmity.  Her  teeth  lay  upon  the  hearth, 
all  broken  into  fragments.  No  dentist,  not  even 
the  most  persevering  of  the  profession,  ever 
visited  the  lonely  part  of  the  state  in  which  she 
lived  ;  and  Mrs  Leathers  was  condemned  to  pass 


MRS.    LEATHERS.  379 

the  residue  of  her  life  without  teeth.  At  first,  she 
encountered  great  difficulties  from  their  loss ;  but 
time  makes  amends  for  many  losses,  or  lessens 
their  burden.  She  could  eat  no  solid  food ;  but 
in  a  few  months,  she  grew  so  enormously  fat  on 
mashed  potatoes,  that  she  was  unable  to  walk. 
She  sat  in  a  great  arm-chair  in  her  room,  and 
read  all  the  novels  that  the  diligent  Colonel 
Leathers  could  collect  for  her.  Some  of  great 
merit,  she  read  twice. 

Her  greatest  loss,  was  the  want  of  society ;  for 
the  Colonel  was  so  busily  engaged,  in  spreading 
his  political  principles  far  and  wide  over  his  own 
state,  and  all  the  neighboring  states;  he  had  so 
many  letters  to  write,  and  so  many  speeches  to 
make,  that  his  wife  had  long  ago  been  taught,  it 
would  be  a  disaster  to  the  country,  for  her  to 
occupy  any  portion  of  his  invaluable  time. 

One  day,  a  thought  occurred  to  her  new  and 
bright,  like  a  gleam  of  stray  sunshine  in  the 
bottom  of  a  dark  well.  Jule  should  sit  in  her 
room,  and  she  would  give  Jule  verbal  instruction 
in  religion. 

Jule  was  sent  for;  she  could  but  obey  the  call. 
She  was  about  fourteen  years  old,  a  dull,  sleepy- 
looking  mulatto.  Mrs.  Leathers  commanded  her 
to  be  washed  and  clothed,  and  told  her  that  she 
was  promoted  to  the  office  of  waiting-maid  to  her 


380  BELLE    SCOTT. 

mistress.  Jule  gave  a  loud  grunt,  when  she  heard 
this ;  but  Mrs,  Leathers  kindly  thought  it  arose 
from  her  horror  of  being  washed. 

For  the  first  few  days  after  Jule  was  installed 
in  her  new  place,  all  things  passed  on  pleasantly 
to  both  parties.  Mrs.  Leathers  was  glad  to  have 
some  person  always  near  her  to  talk  to,  and  Jule 
was  pleased  with  her  change  from  the  quarter 
to  the  great  house,  and  of  food  and  clothing. 
But  old  habits,  how  firmly  will  they  adhere  to 
us,  and  how  hard  are  they  to  break !  When 
Mrs.  Leathers  thought  Jule  was  most  attentive 
to  her  instructions,  a  closer  inspection  showed  her 
to  be  fast  asleep.  She  called,  but  Jule  did  not 
answer.  She  almost  shouted,  but  Jule  nodded 
her  head,  still  lower  and  faster.  She  shrieked, 
but  Jule  was  in  deep  slumber,  and  made  no  re 
ply.  She  had  to  ring  her  bell  for  the  cook  to 
come  up  and  awaken  her ;  but  by  the  time  the 
cook  would  reach  the  kitchen  in  the  back  yard, 
Jule  was  again  asleep. 

Necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention.  Mrs. 
Leathers,  after  a  week  of  deep  thought,  hit  upon 
an  expedient  to  keep  Jule  awake,  which  has  not 
yet  been  patented,  and  is,  therefore,  at  the  service 
of  any  person  who  may  choose  to  use  it. 

She  called  Harry,  the  carpenter,  and  made  him 
measure  the  distance  between  her  seat  and  the 


JULE.  381 

extremities  of  the  room.  lie  was  then  ordered  to 
make  a  long  pole,  like  a  broomstick,  and  in  one 
end  to  insert  a  nail,  sharpened  at  the  outer  point, 
and  in  the  other  a  small  hook.  This  was  done 
and  placed  in  her  hands. 

She  sat  now  in  her  great  arm-chair,  which  she 
entirely  filled,  dressed  in  an  old,  greasy,  worn-out 
black  silk  gown,  with  this  pole  in  her  hand,  like  a 
sceptered  queen  on  her  throne. 

Whenever  she  called  to  Jule,  if  she  received  no 
answer,  the  point  was  quickly  applied,  and  it  served 
the  purpose  fully  to  awaken  her. 

If  she  commanded  Jule  to  come  to  her,  and  she 
failed  to  obey,  the  hook  brought  her  rapidly  near 
enough  for  her  mistress  to  box  her  ears  :  obedience 
was  now  fully  established.  Jule  kept  awake  while 
her  mistress  taught  her  the  whole  catechism,  from 
"Who  made  you?"  to  "the  end  of  all  things." 

32 


CHAPTER    L. 


THE    DEED   OF     EMANCIPATION. 

MR.  REED  took  the  deed  of  emancipation,  as 
quickly  as  he  could,  to  Belle,  who  had  gone  early  in 
the  evening  to  Mr.  Stillman's,  and  by  the  light  of 
a  lamp,  which  was  held  by  Mrs.  Johnston,  she  read 
the  document,  pressed  it  to  her  bosom,  kissed  the 
seal  upon  it,  and  looked  at  it  as  a  child  looks  at 
a  much-loved  toy,  and  exclaimed, "  Oh !  thank  God  ! 
thank  God,  I  am  now  free !  no  more  a  slave  !  no 
more  a  slave,  and  I  never  can  be  a  slave  again !" 

Mrs.  Johnston  seemed  to  be  as  much  de 
lighted  as  Belle ;  she  skipped  about  the  room 
with  the  deed  in  her  hands,  and  said,  "  I  always 
told  you  she  was  free,  I  knew  that  some  day  it 
would  turn  out  so." 

Mr.  Reed  then  told  them  that  Mr.  Scott  had 
acknowledged  Belle,  as  sole  heiress  of  her  father's 
estate,  and  that  she  was  entitled  to  the  immediate 
possession.  Belle  received  this  intelligence  with 
composure — almost  with  indifference — but  Mrs. 
Johnston  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stillman  were  de 
lihted  to  hear  it. 


THE    EMANCIPATION.  383 

"  How  much  is  it?''  said  Mr.  Stillman. 

"  I  do  not  know  exactly,  but  from  all  that  I  can 
learn,  I  suppose  the  cash  and  stocks  are  worth 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  the  lands, 
negroes  and  personal  property  as  much  more,"  said 
Mr.  Reed. 

"  Belle,"  said  Mrs.  Stillman,  "  you  have  a  large 
fortune." 

"I  am  free  !  I  am  free !"  exclaimed  Belle. 

"  But  there  are  slaves,"  said  Mrs.  Johnston ; 
"  Belle,  you  are  a  slaveholder." 

"  /  a  slaveholder,  and  that  too  at  the  very 
instant  I  find  myself  free !  Oh  no  !  no  !  no  !  I 
cannot  be  a  slaveholder;  I  will  not  take  these 
people  as  slaves ;  I  will  set  them  free  to-night !" 

The  lawyer  who  accompanied  Mr.  Reed,  was 
sent  for ;  and  a  deed  of  emancipation  was  drawn 
for  all  of  them,  with  power  to  appropriate  a  sum 
of  money  from  the  estate  for  their  present  wants, 
until  a  suitable  provision  could  be  made  for  them. 

After  a  weary  and  eventful  day,  they  all  sepa 
rated  for  rest. 

The  next  day,  Mr.  Stillman  invited  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  St.  John,  and  others,  to  dine  with  him. 

All  were  seated  at  the  table ;  all  joyously 
participated  in  the  conversation ;  the  gloom,  the 
sorrow  that  for  a  long  time  had  hung  as  a  thunder 
cloud  over  the  house  of  Mr.  Stillman.,  had  passed 


384  BELLE   SCOTT. 

suddenly  away  and  joy,  as  bright  sunlight,  rested 
in  its  place.  All  seemed  calmly  happ}r.  The 
lines  that  had  begun  to  furrow  the  pure  face  of 
Mrs.  Stillman,  now  converged  into  dimples  radiant 
with  gladness ;  Mr.  Stillman,  though  still  thought 
ful,  was  too  happy  to  conceal  his  emotions.  Poor 
Belle  was  unable  to  leave  her  room,  but  each  mo 
ment  of  her  hours  was  a  diamond  sparkle  of  bliss. 

Captain  Carter  sat  near  the  foot  of  the  table, 
and  quietly  conversed  with  a  gentleman  by  his 
side,  on  the  merits  and  prices  of  horses.  From 
time  to  time,  as  he  heard  the  voice  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  St.  John,  slowly  descanting  on  some  sublime 
truth  of  Christianity,  he  cast,  with  his  oblique  eye, 
a  look  at  him,  while  his  lip  curled  with  ill-concealed 
contempt. 

General  topics  at  first,  on  which  none  could 
differ,  were  discussed.  Miss  Jane  Williams,  how 
ever,  was  restive — she  sat  opposite  Mr.  St.  John, 
and  said  to  him : 

"  How  do  you  ministers  of  the  south,  get  along 
with  slavery  ? " 

Mrs.  Stillman  colored  to  her  eyes — all  the  others 
at  the  table  looked  as  surprised  as  they  would 
have  done,  if  she  had  thrown  a  stone  at  Mr.  St. 
John ;  but  the  Rev.  gentleman  was  calm  as  he 
had  been  at  any  moment  in  his  life,  and  replied : 

"  I  have  had  but  little  trouble  on  that  subject ; 


MR.   ST.    JOHN.  385 

my  greatest  difficulties  have  been  with  the  slave- 
trade.  I  have  been  greatly  afflicted  on  account 
of  the  manner  in  which  it  is  conducted." 

Miss  Jane  Williams  was  quite  excited,  "  Oh ! 
Mr.  St.  John,  do  not  ministers,  in  the  slave-holding 
states,  have  great  trouble  on  this  matter  of  slavery?" 

"  Yes,  miss,  they  are  greatly  perplexed  about  it, 
and  the  perplexity  is  daily  increasing.  They  do 
not  do  their  duty." 

"Why,  do  they  not  faithfully  discharge  their 
duty  on  that,  as  well  as  on  other  matters  ?  " 

"  They  are  too  timid,  miss — they  fear  man 
rather  than  God." 

"  Do  they  preach  at  all  on  slavery  ?  " 

"  Yes,  they  sometimes  do,  but  in  so  timid  and 
time-serving  a  manner,  that  it  is  distressing  to  hear 
them.  Their  sermons  make  but  little  impression, 
and  I  fear,  do  but  little  good." 

"  Well,  they  pray  that  their  hearers  may  be  en 
lightened  on  the  subject,  I  hope,"  said  Miss  Jane. 

"  They  seldom  mention  it  in  their  prayers,  and 
when  they  do,  it  is  in  such  a  roundabout  manner, 
that  not  half  their  hearers,  I  fear,  understand  for 
what  they  are  praying.  It  is  almost  as  bad  as 
praying  in  an  unknown  tongue." 

"  What  can  be  done  to  induce  them  to  speak 
out  boldly,  as  men  and  as  Christians,  on  this  great 
duty?'' 


BELLE   SCOTT. 

"I  do  iiot  know.  The  best  manner,  I  think, 
is  for  each  minister  to  take  to  himself  some  por 
tion  of  that  subject,  and  by  his  own  precept  and 
example  (for  precept,  you  know,  is  entirely  worth 
less,  unless  it  be  sustained  by  correspondent  prac 
tice,)  to  illustrate  the  duties  of  Christians.  Act 
ing  on  this  principle,  I  took  to  myself  the  depart 
ment  of  the  slave-trade,  and  labored  for  years  in 
that  branch  of  duty.  After  that,  I  labored  about 
two  years  in  the  branch  of  duty  connected  with 
catching  those  slaves  that  escape.  But  my  efforts 
were  not  sustained,  as  I  think  they  should  have 
been,  by  my  brethren  in  the  ministry,  nor  by  the 
Christian  public.  I  was  a  pioneer  in  the  enter 
prise,  and  shared  the  fate  of  all  pioneers ; — I  was 
misunderstood,  neglected,  and  even  persecuted." 

The  liveliest  sympathy  was  shown  for  Mr.  St. 
John  by  all  at  the  table,  except  Captain  Carter, 
who  sat  in  silence,  casting,  occasionally,  a  glance 
at  him. 

Mr.  Stillman :  "  My  dear  sir,  you  have  labored, 
no  doubt,  faithfully,  and  you  know  that  we  always 
lose  the  honors  and  rewards  of  this  world,  in  the 
ratio  of  our  fidelity  to  Christian  duty.'1 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  St.  John,  "  it  is  so ;  I  have 
always  found  it  so." 

A  pause,  for  a  minute  or  more,  took  place. 

Miss  Williams  said  :  "  Is  it  not  shocking,  that 


MR.    ST.    JOHN.  387 

parents  sell  their  own  children,  Mr.  St.  John? 
Cannot  some  reform  be  made  in  that  horrid 
practice?  " 

Mr.  St.  John,  greatly  surprised  :  "  You  mistake 
me,  miss !  I  have  not  been  understood,  I  fear. 
/  do  not  think  it  wrong  or  unchristian,  for  parents 
to  sell  their  children." 

The  whole  party,  except  Captain  Carter  and 
Mr.  Reed,  looked  at  him  with  surprise.  He  pro 
ceeded  :  "  We  all  agree,  that  slave-holding,  so  far 
from  being  a  sin,  is  in  exact  accordance  with 
Christianity.  St.  Paul,  you  know,  sent  back 
Onesimus  to  his  brother  according  to  the  flesh,  to 
be  held  by  him  as  a  slave.  There  is  not  a  word 
against  slavery,  in  the  New  Testament ;  and  the 
Old  Testament  expressly  sanctions  it,  and  com 
mands  it. 

"Now,  to  reply  to  your  question,  miss,  I  think 
you  err  on  this  subject — your  philosophy  is  wrong. 
It  is  right  to  hold  slaves ;  that  must  be  regarded 
as  a  fixed  principle — as  a  doctrine  not  to  be  dis 
puted  or  disturbed. 

All  experience  shows,  that  it  is  useless  to  hold 
them,  without  the  power  of  selling  them ;  because 
that  power  is  an  essential  means  of  holding  them. 
The  master  could  not  keep  them  obedient,  unless 
he  can  hold  over  their  heads,  the  terror  of  being 
sold ;  and  in  addition  to  that,  thev  would  be  of 


388  J5ELLE    SCOTT. 

no  profit  to  their  owners,  unless  they  could  sell 
them.  If  a  man  sells  children,  he  must  sell 
somebody's  children ;  and  I  submit  it  to  your  own 
good  sense,  miss,  whether  he  had  not  better  sell 
his  own  children,  than  those  of  some  other  person  !" 

Miss  Williams  excited  :  "  But  did  I  not  under 
stand  you  to  say,  that  you  took,  as  your  depart 
ment  of  labor  for  several  years,  the  reformation 
of  the  slave-trade?" 

"Yes,  miss,  I  certainly  said  so." 

"You  condemn  the  slave-trade  then,  of  course  ?" 

"  Not  at  all,  not  at  all.  I  am  really  glad  that 
you  thus  give  me  an  opportunity  to  correct  an 
erroneous  impression,  which,  no  doubt,  my  too 
general  remarks  have  caused.  I  condemn  the 
abuses  and  wickedness,  that  too  frequently  prevail 
where  it  is  carried  on.  I  found  nearly  all  my 
brethren  in  the  ministry,  engaged  in  endeavoring 
to  reform  the  abuses  of  slave-holding,  by  intro 
ducing  family  prayer,  and  reading  the  Bible,  to 
slaveholders  and  their  slaves ;  and  finding  one 
department,  as  I  believed,  entirely  neglected,  I 
endeavored  to  reform  the  abuses  in  the  trade,  by 
the  same  means.  My  brethren,  for  more  perfect 
access  to  the  hearts  of  slaveholders,  became,  in 
many  instances,  slaveholders ;  upon  the  same 
principle  I,  for  more  full  and  easy  access  to  the 
hearts  of  slave-traders,  became  a  slave-trader." 


MIL  ST.  JUHN.  389 

Looking  round  him  he  said:  "'I  see  that  you 
all  look  surprised ;  but  I  hope  to  convince  you  by 
the  most  exact  logic  that  I  was  in  the  discharge 
of  a  high  Christian  duty.  The  abuses  of  slave- 
holding,  and  the  slave-trade  were,  and  will  con 
tinue  to  be,  the  means  of  assailing  slavery  itself; 
and  we  all  wisely  judge  that  a  reformation  of 
those  abuses  will  be  the  best  means  of  sustaining 
the  institution.  None  of  you  condemn  the  con 
duct  of  those  ministers  who  labor  day  and  night 
with  tears,  to  reform  the  abuses  of  slave-holding 
and  to  bring  the  institution  itself  more  completely 
under  the  control  of  Christian  principles.  Apply 
the  same  reasoning  to  the  slave-trade  and  the 
line  of  duty  is  as  plain  in  the  one  case  as  it  is  in 
the  other." 

Miss  Williams  :  u  How  did  you  labor  in  this 
department  ?" 

"  As  I  have  just  told  you,  I  became  myself  a 
trader  and  went  with  the  gangs.  At  first  I  en 
deavored  to  abolish  the  practice  of  chaining  the 
slaves  in  coffles,  and  succeeded  in  inducing  one 
trader  to  abandon  it,  but  so  many  of  the  slaves 
ran  off,  that  we  had  to  return  to  the  old  method 
of  securing  them.  I  then  endeavored  to  introduce 
family  worship  and  reading  the  Scriptures  morn 
ing  and  evening  to  the  slaves  and  to  the  men 
who  conducted  the  coffles ;  but  the  slaves  were  so 

33 


390  liELLH    SCOTT. 

sullen  and  sleepy,  and  the  drivers  so  profane 
and  frequently  so  drunk,  that  I  soon  found  I 
could  be  of  no  service  there.  As  a  last  effort,  I 
tried  my  uttermost  to  induce  them  to  remember 
the  Sabbath  day  but  the  men  said  no  such  thing 
had  ever  before  been  heard  of, — that  the  slave- 
trade  knew  no  Sabbath,  and  the  trader  did  not 
care  a  straw  ( they  used  another  and  worse  word  ) 
for  it — and  so  after  many  faithful  efforts  I  had  to 
give  that  up  also.  If  my  Christian  brethren  had 
sustained  me,  perhaps  I  might  have  succeeded ; 
but  as  I  was  alone,  with  the  world  against  me,  I 
fear  my  feeble  labors  will  be  lost." 

Miss  Williams  :  "  You  condemn,  of  course,  the 
African  slave-trade,  do  you  not,  sir?  " 

"  Not  at  all,  miss,  not  at  all.  We  who  support 
and  believe  slavery  to  be  right;  have  unwisely 
lost  a  great  point,  by  yielding  to  the  assertion, 
that  the  foreign  slave-trade  is  wrong.  If  you 
will  examine  the  arguments  urged  against  it,  you 
will  find  that  they  are  generally  directed  against 
its  abuses,  and  do  not  touch  the  vital  question 
itself.  They  condemn  the  practice  of  crowding 
so  many  slaves  together  in  the  holds  of  the 
vessels,  without  adequate  food  or  water,  so  that 
many  of  them  perish  on  the  passage ;  the  cut 
throat  and  piratical-looking  men  who  conducted 
such  vessels;  and  above  all,  the  great  fact  that 


MR.    ST.    JOHN.  o9i 

Spaniards  and  Catholics  were  frequently  officers  of 
the  ships,  and  cruel  in  their  treatment  to  their 
•slaves  ;  these  are  the  great  arguments  against  the 
African  slave-trade. 

';  But  that  too,  should  have  been  reformed.  If 
only  as  many  were  brought  over  as  the  ships 
could  comfortably  hold;  if  the  slaves  were  well 
fed  and  supplied  with  water ;  if  Protestant  Chris 
tians  were  officers  of  the  vessels ;  then  it  is 
plain  that  the  trade  would  be  respectable,  and 
would  probably  have  continued  to  this  hour.  It  is 
the  abuses  of  slavery,  and  the  slave-trade,  that 
should  be  the  object  of  our  solicitude.  If  the 
slave-trade  is  wrong,  then  it  follows  inevitably 
that  slave-holding  is  wrong  too;  if  you  condemn  the 
one,  you  must  also  condemn  the  other  ;  and  if  you 
sustain  the  one,  you  must  also  sustain  the  other. 

Mr.  Jones  said :  "  I  think  I  heard  you  say 
that  you  endeavored  to  reform  the  practice  of 
hunting  fugitive  slaves  with  dogs.  I  suppose 
sir,  of  course,  that  you  tried  to  abolish  it  alto 
gether," 

"  No  sir,  not  at  all — not  at  all.  The  practice 
is  necessary  and  proper.  I  know  it  shocks  your 
prejudices  to  hear  me  say  so ;  but  a  little  reflec 
tion  will  convince  you  that  it  is  only  prejudice, 
and  not  reason  that  is  surprised. 

';  Hear  me  then,  for  a  moment.     It  is  right  to 


392  BELLE   SCOTT. 

hold  slaves — thai  is  settled''' — laying  his  hand  upon 
the  table.  "Now  that  right  cannot  be  enjoyed,  if 
every  slave  is  allowed  to  walk  off  at  his  pleasure. 
The  right  to  hold,  implies  the  right  to  re-capture. 
This  being  so,  if  one  runs  off,  it  is  right  to  hunt 
him.  But  you  object,  perhaps  to  the  means  used. 
Dogs,  however,  are  found  from  experience — the 
experience  of  hundreds  of  planters,  and  for  a 
hundred  years — to  be  the  best  means  of  hunting 
fugitive  slaves.  But  for  them,  many  who  have 
escaped  and  hidden  themselves  in  dense  forests 
and  swamps  could  never  be  retaken.  It  is,  there 
fore,  right  to  use  dogs.  I  did  so ;  at  first  I  put 
wire-muzzles  over  their  mouths ;  but  this  put  the 
poor  dogs  completely  in  the  power  of  the  fugitives, 
they  killed  them  as  fast  as  the  dogs  came  up 
with  them.  This  was  extreme  cruelty  to  the  dogs, 
and  was  too,  a  great  waste  of  money,  for  each  dog 
killed,  was  worth,  at  least,  twenty  dollars.  It 
made  the  dogs  useless;  I  therefore  took  off  the 
muzzles. 

"This  branch  of  the  business  really  needed 
Christian  reformation,  and  still  needs  it.  Those 
who  are  engaged  in  it,  are  too  frequently  low, 
vulgar  men ;  very  profane,  and  they  actually  de 
secrate  the  Sabbath,  by  following  it  on  that  day. 
I  therefore  went  into  the  business,  hoping  to  re 
form  it ;  but  alas !  my  brethren  in  the  ministry 


MR.    ST.    JOHN. 

did  not  sympathize  with  me.  I  could  not  con 
vince  them  that  I  was  right.  I  suppose,  that  their 
minds  were  so  full  of  prejudice  against  the  class  of 
men  who  are  engaged  in  it,  that  their  prejudices  ex 
tend  even  to  the  work  itself — a  very  common  case." 

Captain  Carter  said  to  Mr.  St.  John  :  "  Did 
you  ever  have  any  bad  luck,  while  you  were  out 
with  your  hounds  ?  It  appears  to  me,  sir,  that 
sometimes  mistakes  might  be  made  that  would  be 
quite  unpleasant." 

"  Such  mistakes  do  not  often  occur ;  but  in 
that  business,  as  in  all  other  human  affairs,"  said 
Mr,  St.  John  with  a  sigh,  "accidents  will  hap 
pen.  I  can  never  forget,  that  four  or  five  years 
ago,  I  was  out  with  my  hounds,  in  pursuit 
of  runaway  negroes.  The  neighborhood  had 
been  infested  for  several  days  with  something 
greatly  destructive  to  poultry  and  pigs;  it 
was  difficult  to  determine  whether  the  havoc 
was  made  by  a  negro,  or  a  bear.  I  satis 
fied  myself,  that  the  mischief  was  done  by  a 
runaway  negro ;  and  came  the  more  readily  to 
this  conclusion,  because  Colonel  Nimberley  had 
lost  a  slave,  a  large  athletic  negro,  a  few  days 
before.  I  determined,  if  possible,  to  capture  the 
creature,  because  he  seemed  to  be  unusually  bold 
in  his  depredations ;  and  his  example  might  cause 
great  mischief  to  all  other  slaves  in  the  neigh- 


394  BELLE   SCOTT. 

borhood.  Accordingly  I  set  out,  one  Saturday 
morning  at  daybreak,  with  five  good  hounds.  It 
was  a  dark,  drizzly,  disagreeable  day.  About 
ten  o'clock  the  hounds  struck  a  trail;  it  was 
along  a  path  that  led  through  a  great  forest. 
The  ground  was  nearly  level,  and  thickly  over 
grown  with  bushes ;  these  bushes  and  the  trees 
were  dripping  with  the  rain.  To  make  matters 
still  worse,  my  horse  became  lame.  The  trail,  at 
first,  was  hard  to  follow;  my  hounds  wandered 
into  by-paths,  and  then  returned  to  the  regular 
track,  that  led  directly  west  from  the  Mississippi 
river.  I  should  have  told  you  before,  that  it  was 
in  the  northern  part  of  Louisiana.  My  mind 
was  as  gloomy  as  the  weather.  While  I  was  thus 
sad,  I  thought  of  the  hard  task  I  had  under 
taken — to  remove  popular  prejudice  from  a  voca 
tion,  that  is  an  essential  part  of  the  system  of 
slave-holding,  by  showing  the  people,  that  all  the 
duties  that  grow  out  of  slave-holding,  may  be 
performed  in  a  Christian  manner,  and  by  a  Chris 
tian  minister.  But  one  of  my  brethren  in  the 
ministry  in  the  country,  sustained  me,  and  he  did 
so  in  theory  only.  That  was  the  Rev.  Reason 
Tarbut,  a  most  pious  minister — humble  and  filled 
with  the  odor  of  sanctity. 

In  the  midst  of  my  gloomiest  thoughts,  it  oc 
curred  to  me  with  great  force,  that  our  system  of 


MR.   ST.   JOHN.  395 

slave-holding  is  sustained  by  a  great  many  of  the 
churches  in  the  free  states. 

"  He  that  is  not  against  us  is  for  us. 

"  Nearly  all  these  churches  condemn  going  to 
theaters  and  dancing  as  sins ;  and  do  not  condemn 
slave-holding  as  such  :  does  it  not  follow  that  they 
regard  slave-holding  as  a  lighter  matter  than  dan 
cing  or  visiting  the  theater  ?  It  is  either  clearly 
right  or  grossly  wrong. 

"Assuredly,  if  northern  ministers  and  church 
members  really  believe  that  slave-holding  is  wrong, 
they  would  not  hide  their  light  under  a  bushel. 

"  While  these  thoughts  were  crowding  through 
my  mind,  cheering,  sustaining,  and  encouraging 
rne  in  my  labor,  my  heart  was  warmed ;  but  I 
was  weary,  hungry  and  wet.  Sometimes  the 
hounds  would  leave  the  trail,  and  wander  for  miles 
into  by-paths,  and  again  would  take  a  fresh  start. 
We  went  on  till  nearly  dark,  and  I  heard  with 
great  joy,  that  peculiar  cry  the  dogs  alwaj^s  raise 
when  the  object  they  are  pursuing  is  close  before 
them.  I  whipped  up  my  poor  jaded  horse,  and 
soon  came  up  with  the  dogs  and  their  game. 

"How  was  I  horror-stricken  to  find  that  the  Rev. 
Reason  Tarbut,  to  escape  them,  had  hastily  climbed 
into  a  tree.  The  good  man  had  an  appointment 
to  fill  on  the  next  Sabbath  ;  he  was  making  a  long- 
journey  on  foot,  and  had  taken  this  as  the  nearest 


3(J6  BiiLLE   SCOTT. 

road  to  his  place  for  preaching.  We  had  been 
following  him  all  day.  I  soon  relieved  him.  He 
was,  I  assure  you,  greatly  frightened,  and  he  had 
reason  to  be  so,  for  my  dogs  were  hungry  and 
fierce." 

"'•  I  suppose,"  said  Captain  Carter,  "  the  dogs 
had  followed  him  by  the  odor  of  sanctity  ?  They 
must  have  been,  poor  hounds,  not  to  know  the 
difference  between  the  odor  of  sanctity,  and  the 
trail  of  a  negro." 

"My  lead  hound,  Juno,  had  a  bad  cold  that 
day,"  said  Mr.  St.  John. 

"  But,  my  dear  sir,  that  was  not  the  worst  of  the 
matter.  Mr.  Tarbut  had  been  convinced  by  my 
arguments,  that  the  slave-system,  as  it  exists  in 
this  country,  is  a  unit.  He  was,  of  course,  before 
he  met  with  me,  well  assured  that  to  hold  slaves 
is  right ;  he  soon  saw  very  clearly  that  the  foreign 
and  domestic  slave-trade,  and  the  means  usually 
resorted  to  for  the  capture  of  runaway  slaves,  are 
also  as  just  and  well-founded  in  right,  as  slave - 
holding  is.  He  was  one  of  my  earliest  converts 
in  the  south-western  country,  and  my  firmest 
supporter.  Now  he  was  so  scared  by  the  hounds, 
that  I  cannot  but  fear  his  intellect  was  somewhat 
touched,  for  from  that  day  to  this,  he  never  would 
say  one  word  to  sustain  my  views  about  the  right 
and  duty  to  hunt  runaway  negroes  with  dogs.  So 


MR.  ST.    JOHN.  397 

far  from  doing  so,  very  soon  afterward  he  re 
moved  to  Iowa,  and  recently  by  a  letter  which  I 
received,  I  am  most  sure  that  he  has  turned  an 
Abolitionist,  for  he  states  in  that  letter,  that  he 
still  believes  the  system  of  slavery  is  a  unit,  and 
also  in  another  part  of  it  he  writes,  that  he  believes 
it  is  a  sin  to  pursue  fugitives  with  hounds,  or  with 
out  them.  Poor  man !  his  mind  never  was  of  the 
first  order,  and  now,  I  fear,  that  he  is  slightly 
deranged." 

Captain  Carter,  during  this  reply,  turned  his 
face  from  the  speaker ;  I  fancy  he  did  so  to  con 
ceal  a  smile,  and  the  smile  seemed  to  be  con 
tagious  ;  Mr.  St.  John  observed  it  and  said  :  "  I 
fear  that  these  details  do  not  interest  or  perhaps 
offend  you,  but  be  assured,  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
that  from  the  African  slave-trade  down  to  the 
re-capture  of  slaves  with  dogs,  there  is  an  un 
broken  chain — the  whole  is  but  one  system,  and 
the  beginning  and  the  end  are  parts  of  that 
system.  If  you  sustain,  as  I  trust  you  do,  slave- 
holding,  the  precedents  and  the  consequences 
must  be  sustained  also.  If  it  is  right  to  hold 
them,  it  was  right  to  bring  them  here;  if  it  is 
right  to  hold  them,  it  is  right  to  re-capture  them, 
when  they  escape,  by  the  best  means  that  experi 
ence  suggests. 

"  Did  you  ever  meet  with  any  other  bad  luck, 


398  BELLE    SCOTT. 

in  that  business  ?"  said  Captain  Carter,  with  quite 
a  long  and  sober  face. 

"  Yes,  sir ;  early  one  morning  not  long  ago,  I 
lost  two  of  my  dogs.  I  was  in  pursuit  of  a  large, 
ferocious-looking  negro  man,  who  had  a  child  with 
him.  They  were  eating  their  breakfast — at  least 
the  girl  was — when  we  came  upon  them.  The 
man  killed  two  of  my  remaining  dogs,  and  injured 
the  others,  by  which  I  suffered  severely." 

Miss  Jane :  "  Well,  Mr.  St.  John,  your  argu 
ments  seem  to  be  logical,  if  the  system  is  right ; 
but  I  differ  with  you  on  that  point.  I  do  think 
it  is  not  only  wrong,  but  one  of  the  very  greatest 
sins  that  ever  cursed  our  earth." 

Mrs.  St.  John :  "  Oh,  honey,  how  you  are 
mistaken  !  It 's  one  of  the  nicest  things  in  this 
world,  to  have  a  nigger  to  wait  on  you ;  to  tote 
you  a  gourd  of  water  when  you  are  dry  ;  to  keep 
the  flies  off  with  a  brush,  when  you  are  asleep 
after  dinner.  Beside,  honey,  we  could  not  do 
without  'em  at  all  in  our  country,  'cause  it 's  so 
nice  to  have  'em  ;  and  it 's  respectable  too." 

Miss  Jane :  "  Do  ministers,  in  your  state, 
generally  own  them  ?  " 

Mrs.  St.  John :  "  Indeed  they  do,  when  they 
are  able.  I  know  a  minister  that  owns  three 
wenches ;  whenever  he  and  his  wife  wish  to  take 
a  trip  to  the  springs,  you  know,  or  to  Philadelphy 


MR.    ST.    JOHN.  399 

or  New  York ;  they  just  sell  some  of  the  children, 
and  get  the  needful  at  once.  Slaves  are  always  a 
cash  article." 

Miss  Jane :  "  Why,  I  do  hope,  that  you  do 
not  approve  of  selling  children  from  their  mothers, 
madam  ?  " 

Mrs.  St.  John :  "  Oh  no !  I  do  not  approve  of 
such  sinful  waste.  Willful  waste  makes  woeful 
want,  miss,  as  the  Bible  says.  It  is  a  sin  to  sell 
children ;  better  to  keep  'em  till  they  are  fourteen 
or  fifteen  years  old  at  least,  and  then  sell  them ; 
they'll  bring  double  price,  ma'am.  One  of  our 
neighbors  wanted  to  take  his  girls  to  some  great 
springs;  and  so  do  you  think,  he  actually  sold 
two  boys  of  about  six  years  old,  for  eight  hundred 
dollars.  It  was  the  greatest  piece  of  waste  I 
ever  did  hear  tell  of.  Oh  no,  miss !  I  does  not 
approve  of  selling  children." 


CHAPTER    LI. 


MR.    ST.    JOHN. 

THE  company  all  went  away  except  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  St,  John,  who  were  invited  to  pass  the 
evening  at  Mr.  Stillman's. 

"My  dear  sir,"  said  Mr.  Stillman  to  Mr.  St. 
John,  "  you  are  mistaken  respecting  churches  in 
the  free  states.  They  do  not,  as  you  think, 
intend  to  indorse  the  system  of  slave-holding. 
Men  do  not  reach  the  truth  by  intuition ;  it  is 
only  to  be  arrived  at,  by  patient  thought,  No 
mans  opinion  upon  any  question  ivhich  he  has 
not  investigated,  is  worth  a  cent.  Error  is  the 
natural  product  of  the  mind,  even  of  cultivated 
men  ;  except  only,  in  those  departments  to  which 
their  culture  has  been  applied.  We  have  ex 
amined  the  subject  of  dancing  and  going  to 
theaters,  and  have  reached  correct  conclusions 
upon  them.  We  have  not  examined,  as  we  should 
have  done,  the  subject  of  slave-holding ;  and  as 
the  result  of  our  negligence,  our  thoughts  upon  it 
are  either  crude  or  erroneous. 

"As    light    advances,    the    Church    will    also 

(400) 


Mil.    ST.    JU1LN.  401 

advance ;  and  this  sin,  as  well  as  others,  against 
which  her  armies  array  themselves  for  battle, 
will  fall  before  it.  The  Church,  with  all  her 
errors,  is  the  light  and  hope  of  the  world ;  and 
will  reform  every  abuse,  and  expel  every  sin,  as 
surely  as  God  is  in  her  midst. 

"  The  Church  was  as  united  on  the  subject  of 
the  slave-trade,  and  supported  that,  as  firmly  as 
she  now  supports  its  result,  slave-holding.  Church 
members  with  us  now,  have  entirely  different  views 
on  that  matter,  and  regard  the  foreign  slave-trade 
as  piracy." 

"  That,  my  dear  sir,  is  a  great  delusion,"  said 
Mr.  St.  John.  "  The  foreign  slave-trade  cannot  be 
piracy,  whatever  opinions  may  have  been  rashly 
carried  into  laws  to  declare  it  so,  as  long  as  the 
domestic  slave-trade  is  a  respectable  business. 
They  both  rest  on  the  same  basis :  and  the 
domestic  slave-trade  is  the  necessary  result  of 
slave-holding.  The  latter  could  not  exist  a  day 
without  the  former.  No  master  can  keep  his 
slave  in  subjection  unless  he  has  the  power  to 
sell  him,  for  that  is  the  greatest  of  all  his  means 
to  coerce  obedience.  The  Church  then  is  in  a 
contradictory  position.  She  condemns  the  foreign 
slave-trade,  while  she  supports  slave-holding  and 
the  domestic  trade." 

"  I  regret,"  said  Mr.  Stillman,  "  that  it  is  too 


402  BELLE   SCOTT. 

much  so,  but  men  cannot  and  will  not  sleep  for 
ever  while  such  great  matters  as  this  question 
involves  are  before  them.  The  acts  of  Congress 
and  of  the  state  legislatures,  that  support  slave- 
holding  directly  or  indirectly,  will  soon  be  declared 
void  by  the  courts  or  be  repealed  by  the  legisla 
tures  and  Congress  respectively. 

"Christianity  has  gained  her  present  position,  not 
by  the  world's  favor,  but  by  winning  her  way  inch 
by  inch  in  a  hand-to-hand  fight  with  her  enemies. 
The  brows  of  her  soldiers  have  been  covered  with 
dust,  and  their  shoes  filled  with  blood,  and  behind 
them,  is  a  path  overspread  with  the  bleached  bones 
of  those  who  have  fallen  in  her  battles,  wide 
almost  as  the  world  and  extending  back  through 
the  ages  to  the  cross  of  Christ. 

"The  practice  of  Christians  is  no  rule  of 
faith — we  must  go  to  the  Bible," 

"  Certainly,  my  dear  sir,"  said  Mr.  St.  John, 
"  that  is  the  very  book  I  rely  upon  to  sustain  me." 

"  Do  you  think  it  a  sin  for  a  slave  to  steal  ?" 
said  Mr.  Stillman. 

"  You  surprise  me,  sir !  certainly  I  do.  Who 
ever  doubted  that  ?" 

"  Let  me  ask  you,  Why  is  it  sin  for  him  to  do 
so?" 

"  Because  God  has  said,  *  Thou  shalt  not  steal.' '' 

"  WTe  will  t.'ike  that  as  the  stand-point  of  our 


MR.    ST.    JOHN.  40o 

argument,"  said  Mr.  Stillman.  "  It  is  a  sin  for  a 
slave  to  disobey  any  of  the  commandments. 
These  commandments  are  laws  to  the  race  of  man, 
and  should  control  the  conduct  of  each  man  in 
the  world." 

"  Certainly,  my  dear  sir,  I  have  preached  that, 
doctrine  for  twenty  years,  to  masters  and  to  slaves 
alike.  I  never  heard  a  human  being  doubt  it." 

"  The  commandments  then  bind  each  man. 
lias  it  never  occurred  to  you,  my  dear  sir,"  said 
Mr.  Stillman,  "that  they  protect  each  man  in  the 
world ;  and  i\\&i  protection  to  human  rights  is  their 
great  object  ?  l  Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to 
keep  it  holy  !'  The  object  of  this  law  is,  that  each 
man  in  the  world  may  be  protected  in  his  religious 
rights.  God,  by  addressing  laws  to  free  agents, 
has  hushed  the  whole  world  into  silence  on  the 
Sabbath,  that  every  man,  it  may  be  the  beg 
gar  on  the  dunghill,  may  worship  him  in  peace. 
And  so  with  the  law,  '  Thou  shalt  not  steal.' 
Every  man  on  earth  is  commanded  to  respect  all 
your  rights  of  property.  It  follows  inevitably, 
that  if  the  slave  is  bound  by  these  laws,  he  is  pro 
tected  by  them." 

"Yes,  sir,  that  is  certainly  so,"  said  Mr.  St. 
John. 

"  Then,"  continued  Mr.  Stillman,  "  the  slave  has 
the  right  to  love  God ;  he  has  the  right  to  keep 


404  BELLE   SCOTT. 

holy  the  Sabbath  day;  to  honor  his  father  and 
his  mother ;  to  respect  the  earnings  of  others,  and 
to  have  others  respect  his  earnings ;  to  respect 
the  marital  rights  of  others,  and  that  others  shall 
respect  his  marriage  relations ;  he  has  the  right 
not  to  covet  his  neighbor's  house,  nor  wife,  nor 
man-servant,  nor  maid-servant,  nor  ox,  nor  ass, 
nor  anything  that  is  his  neighbor's,  and  that  his 
neighbor  shall  not  covet  his  wife,  nor  anything  that 
is  his. 

"  But  further,  the  duty  is  imposed  by  God ;  no 
law  of  man  can  interfere  with  the  duty.  The  right 
to  discharge  the  duty  is  conferred  on  us  by  God, 
and  no  law  of  man  can  take  away  that  right." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Mr.  St.  John,  "  that  is  very  true 
and  very  clear." 

"  These  laws  are  addressed,"  said  Mr.  Stillman, 
"  to  persons  who  may  obey  or  disobey  them  ? " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"To  free  agents?" 

"  Certainly  to  free  agents ;  they  could  not  have 
the  character  of  laws,  { obligatory  rules  for  con 
duct,'  unless  addressed  to  persons,  who  otherwise 
might  not  act  as  they  command." 

"  God  had  the  right  to  make  them  ?  " 

"  Why  certainly,  Mr.  Stillman,  you  surprise  me, 
by  asserting  what  no  one  in  his  senses  ever  denied." 

"Now,"  said  Mr.  Stillman,  "can  a  slave,  of  his 


MR.    ST,    JOHN.  405 

own  free  will,  obey  all  these  laws  ?  can  he  keep 
the  Sabbath  day?  honor  his  father  and  his  mother? 
obey — freely  obey — all  the  other  commandments, 
unless  his  master  shall  permit  him  to  do  so  ? 

"  Do  you  not  see  that  the  master  stands  above 
the  slave,  and  between  him  and  his  God,  and  that 
slave-holding  deprives  the  slave  of  his  free  agency? 
Do  you  not  also  see  that  these  laws  presuppose 
that  the  persons  to  whom  they  are  addressed  can 
obey  them  if  they  will  ?  You  have  admitted  that 
they  are  addressed  to  the  whole  human  race;  to 
each  man  in  the  world ;  and  by  God  who  created 
all  men  :  and  does  it  not  follow  inevitably,  that 
God  intended  that  men  shall  be  free  ?  " 

"  The  view  is  quite  novel  to  me,"  said  Mr.  St. 
John.  "There  is  some  plausibility  in  it.  The 
idea  too,  that  each  man  is  a  separate  center,  and 
that  all  the  commandments  surround  him,  (as 
the  planets  roll  around  the  sun)  and  protect  him 
from  the  aggressions  of  all  other  men,  is,  at  least, 
worthy  of  attention.  It  exalts  humanity,  and 
shows  that  the  thunders  and  lightnings  of  Sinai 
are  exhibitions  of  the  benevolence  and  care  of 
God  for  all  human  beings." 

"But  still,"  said  Mr.  Stillman,  "my  question 
is  not  answered.  Can  a  slave,  of  his  own  free  will, 
obey  all  these  commandments,  if  his  master  shall 
choose  to  forbid  him  ?  " 

34 


406  BELLE   SCOTT. 

"  Is  not  your  inquiry,  directed  rather  to  cases 
of  abuse  of  the  power,  than  to  its  legitimate  ex 
ercise  ?  "  asked  Mr.  St.  John. 

"  No,  sir.  The  very  existence  of  the  power  is 
the  wrong.  To  obey  God  is  the  purpose  for  which 
man  is  created;  and  the  existence  of  a  power  to 
prevent  man  from  obeying  him,  is  the  existence 
of  a  power  to  defeat  the  purpose  of  the  man's 
creation." 

"  I  will  think  of  this  matter.  It  is  late.  I 
must  bid  you  good-night,"  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  St. 
John  went  to  their  lodgings. 


CHAPTER    LIT. 


MRS.    ST.    JOHN. 

WHILE  the  gentlemen  were  in  conversation, 
Mrs.  St.  John  said  to  Mrs.  Stillman :  "  Oh  dear ! 
how  I  would  love  to  take  a  good  smoke.  I 
always  does  so  after  dinner." 

"  Come  with  me,"  said  Mrs.  Stillman,  "  into  a 
back  room." 

The  ladies  withdrew.  Mrs.  St.  John  lighted 
her  pipe.  "  I  hope  it  will  not  hurt  you,  dear." 

"  It  will  not  hurt,"  replied  Mrs.  Stillman,  lay 
ing  a  slight  emphasis  on  the  word  hurt. 

"Now,  I'll  tell  you  all  about  it,"  said  Mrs.  St 
John. 

"  Captain  Carter  came  to  our  house,  last  Wed 
nesday,  three  weeks  ago,  and  asked  me,  if  my 
name  was  not  Robinson,  before  I  married  Mr. 
St.  John  ?  and  I  told  him,  'Yes,  sir,  and  a  very 
good  man  Mr.  Robinson  was,  too,'  said  I  to  him. 

"  Then,"  said  he  to  me,  "  *  My  name  is  Joseph 
Carter,  madam  ;  I  live  in  New  Orleans,  and  I  have 
rome  to  see  you  on  very  particular  business.' ' 

"I  was  half  scared  when  he  said  that ;  and  say? 

(407) 


408  BELLE   SCOTT. 

I  to  him :  '  My  husband  that  is,  Mr.  St.  John, 
will  be  at  home  in  an  hour  or  two ;  stay  and  take 
dinner  with  us,  and  he  will  be  back  by  the  time 
it  is  ready.' ' 

He  said  :  " '  Thank  you,  madam.'  Then  says 
he  :  'Do  you  remember  a  girl  named  Belle,  who 
lived  with  you  several  years  ago  ? ' 

"  That  scared  me  worse  than  ever,  because 
I  did  know  a  good  deal  about  her;  and  more 
than  it  was  right  for  me  to  tell,  'specially  while 
my  husband  was  away.  But  I  studied  over  it 
a  minute,  and  said :  '  the  girl  you  mention,  lived 
with  me  and  Mr.  Robinson,  about  three  years. 
Mr.  Robinson  bought  her  cheap  of  a  trader ;  and 
we  kept  her  three  years,  or  thereabouts,  and  sold 
her  to  Williams,  the  trader.  Williams  said  he 
wanted  to  buy  the  little  thing ;  and  hinted  that 
she  was  kin  to  great  folks,  and  they  wanted  her  ; 
and  so  we  sold  her  to  him.  I  would  not  have 
agreed  to  sell  her  on  any  account,  only  for  her 
good ;  for  I  liked  the  little  thing. 

"When  Mr.  Robinson  brought  her  home,  he 
said,  the  trader  asked  him  where  he  lived ;  and 
he  told  him,  he  lived  away  off  from  all  the  big 
roads,  and  where  nobody  hardly  ever,  could  find 
the  place ;  and  the  trader  told  him,  that  was  a 
good  place  for  the  child,  for  her  mother  was  trying 
to  steal  her.  When  she  rame  to  our  house,  she 


MRS.    ST.    JOHN.  409 

was  greasy  all  over;  and  one  of  our  neighbors 
said,  he  heard  of  a  woman  that  greased  a  Dutch 
child  with  bacon  rinds,  and  made  her  sit  in  the 
sun  till  she  looked  like  a  mulatto,  and  then  sold 
her  for  a  big  price  to  a  trader.  But  we  thought 
nothing  of  it,  only  T  saw  that  the  longer  the 
little  thing  lived  with  us,  the  whiter  she  got ; 
'specially,  when  I  made  her  wear  her  sunbonnet 
whenever  she  went  out  of  doors." 

Mrs.  Stillman  coughed.  "I  hope  the  smoke 
don't  hurt  you,  ma'am,"  said  Mrs.  St.  John. 

"  It  will  not  hurt  me,  I  think." 

"After  we  sold  the  child,  we  never  heard  any 
more  of  her,  till  about  four  years  ago,  when  Colo 
nel  Leathers,  who  lived  a  good  ways  off,  sent  for 
Mr.  St.  John ;  and  the  man  that  came,  said  he 
was  sick  and  liken  to  die. 

"  I  went  with  Mr.  St.  John,  and  when  we  got 
there,  Oh  dear !  what  a  sight  it  was,  to  see  Col 
onel  Leathers  tumbling  and  tossing  in  his  bed ; 
and  to  hear  him  say,  there  was  no  hope  for  him." 

Mrs.  Stillman.   "His  poor  wife,  how  I  pity  her !" 

"His  wife  was  dead  then.  She  was  a  mon 
strous  religious  woman.  She  taught  all  her 
young  slaves,  one  after  another,  the  whole  cate 
chism,  and  did  her  best  to  make  'em  Christians. 
She  died  only  a  year  before  Colonel  Leathers  did, 
and  therp  was  a  srreat  dispute  about  her  death. 


410  P.ELLE    SCOTT. 

"  She  bad  two  doctors,  and  one  of  them  said, 
she  died  of  apoplexy,  and  the  other  said,  she 
smothered  to  death  in  her  own  fat.  The  dispute 
got  so  high,  that  the  doctors  used  to  shoot  at 
each  other  with  pistols  whenever  they  met;  till 
the  neighbors  got  tired  of  it  and  made  them 
drink  friends. 

"  Mr.  St.  John  sat  down  by  Colonel  Leathers'  bed 
and  began  to  talk  to  him  about  politics,  but  the 
Colonel  said  that  politics  was  only  vanity  and  vexa 
tion  of  spirit. 

"  Colonel  Leathers  had  been  a  great  politician  in 
that  county.  The  gentlemen  all  said  that  his  prin 
ciples  was  the  very  corner-stone  of  our  republican 
edifice.  Some  of  them  wanted  him  to  be  Presi 
dent,  but  the  Colonel  always  declined ;  he  told  them 
that  it  was  honor  enough  for  him  to  lay  down  the 
principles  of  the  party,  and  it  did  not  make  any 
difference  what  man  they  got  to  carry  them  into 
practice,  and  that  '  they  had  better  get  a  northern 
man  with  Colonel  Leathers'  principles  and  leave  him 
to  enjoy  in  peace  the  sweets  of  domestic  life.' 

"  Them  was  the  very  words  he  said,  but  where 
the  sweets  was  I  don't  know,  for  his  wife,  they  do 
say,  always  found  fault  with  everything  in  this 
world.  She  thought  so  much  of  the  angels,  honey, 
that  she  could  not  bear  anything  that  was  not  as 
perfect  as  an  angel. 


MRS.    ST.    JOHN". 

"  Well,  my  husband  that  is,  Mr.  St.  John,  said 
to  him, 1 1  do  hope  you  will  recover,  sir.' 

"  He  sighed  and  said,  his  work  in  this  world 
was  all  done ;  and  then  he  took  Mr.  St.  John's 
hand  and  cried,  and  said,  'You  knew  me,  my  dear 
sir,  when  I  was  a  young  man,  and  that  sermon 
that  I  first  heard  from  you  has  had  a  great  effect 
on  my  whole  life.' 

"  Mr.  St.  John  told  him  ( he  was  glad  to  hear  it ; 
that  every  sermon  should  make  a  lasting  impres 
sion  on  the  minds  of  the  hearers.' 

" ( But  you  convinced  me,  sir,  that  the  slave- 
trade  should  not  be  a  disreputable  business.' 

" '  I  have  long  been  of  that  opinion,'  my 
husband  said  to  him. 

" '  I  determined,  under  the  influence  of  that 
discourse,  to  marry  the  dear  saint,  my  departed 
wife.' 

"  •  I  always  supposed  so,  sir,'  said  Mr.  St.  John. 
And  then  he  said,  honey,  that  '  when  he  made 
up  his  mind  to  court  Mrs.  Tullis  that  was,  he 
wanted  to  get  good  clothes,'  for  he  said, '  it  was  no 
use  for  a  man  to  court  a  widow  without  he  wore 
good  clothes.'  And  so  he  sold  an  old  negro 
he  had,  named  Joe.  He  put  a  bottle  of  whisky, 
where  old  Joe  found  it  and  stole  it,  and  got 
drunk  ;  and  before  he  was  sober,  the  trader  had 
the  handcuffs  on  him. 


412  BELLE   SCOTT. 

"  Then  lie  said,  'he  knew  that  the  nurse's  child 
would  be  so  much  better  off  if  it  was  only  a  slave ;' 
and  he  made  a  bargain  with  a  trader  to  sell  the 
child  to  him ;  that  he  went  np  to  the  nurse's 
room,  and  took  away  the  wrong  child  and  carried 
it  on  board  the  vessel,  and  before  daylight  the 
ship  was  off  to  sea.  And  when  he  found  out  his 
mistake,  he  was  mighty  sorry,  but  there  was  no 
help  for  it,  without  ruining  himself. 

"  He  cried  like  a  child,  when  he  said  this,  and 
seemed  so  sorry  for  his  mistake,  that  I  pitied  him 
from  my  very  heart. 

"  He  was  a  little  flighty,  at  times,  and  seemed 
to  think  that,  somehow  or  another,  Mr.  St.  John 
was  a  kind  of  to  blame  for  it. 

"  At  one  time  he  tried  to  blame  the  whole  of  it 
on  to  Mr.  St.  John ;  but  he  said,  '  You  know,  my 
dear  Colonel,  that  I  had  no  hand  in  the  matter,' 
and  then  the  Colonel  said, '  No  more  you  had — no 
more  you  had.' 

"Just  before  he  died,  we  were  both  called  up 
at  night,  and  he  gave  Mr.  St.  John  a  great  bun 
dle  of  letters  that  he  got  from  Mr.  Williams, 
the  trader  ;  and  told  him  where  the  child  was,  but 
that  he  must  keep  it  a  secret  till  the  proper  time. 

"  He  gave  him,  too,  a  great  big  roll  of  papers 
that  he  wanted  him  to  look  over  and  publish, 
after  his  death,  being  his  political  principle?:  but 


MRS.   ST.   JOHN.  413 

Mr.  St.  John  said,  *  he  was  only  a  preacher,  and 
had  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  politics ; '  and  Col 
onel  Leathers  got  him  to  write  a  note  to  General 
Blowell,  and  request  him  to  have  all  his  best 
thoughts  spread  out  in  the  newspapers,  at  some 
presidential  election,  'specially  in  the  free  states, 
because,  he  said,  *  that  was  the  place  where  light 
was  most  wanted.' 

"And  then  he  talked  about  Belle,  and  said,  'if 
she  only  had  one  drop  of  negro  blood  in  her  veins, 
he  could  die  in  peace,  but  as  it  was,  there  was  no 
hope.' 

"  My  husband  tried  to  console  him,  and  told  him 
that  it  was  only  a  mistake  made  in  the  dark ;  but 
he  said,  '  there  was  no  hope  for  a  man  who,  even 
in  the  dark,  mistook  a  rich  woman's  child  for  a 
poor  one's.' 

"My  husband  told  him,  he  must  not  despair. 

"  But  the  Colonel  said, ( the  difference  between  a 
white  child  and  a  black  child  was  enough  to  drive 
any  man  to  despair.' 

"  And  so  he  died,  poor  dear  man,  and  we  staid 
till  the  funeral. 

"  Messages  were  sent  out  for  all  his  relations  and 
IViends,  and  they  came.  Four  of  his  wife's  sisters 
were  there,  and  his  father-m-law.  They  were  all 
a  poor,  miserable,  broken-down  set  of  people.  They 
had  been  mighty  rich  once,  but  bad  luck  came 


414  BELLE   SCOTT. 

on  their  husbands,  and  the  whole  of  them  got 
broke  up,  and  there  they  are,  living  yet,  as  poor 
as  they  can  be ;  and  two  of  them,  honey,  looks 
like  they  drank ;  they  were  both  a  little  tipsy  at 
the  funeral. 

"Mr.  Leathers  was  a  great  man.  He  was  a 
fightin'  colonel,  and  the  people  buried  him  with 
all  the  horrors  of  war. 

"  When  my  husband  came  home,  Captain  Carter 
told  him  all  about  Belle,  and  they  talked  the  mat 
ter  all  over,  and  we  agreed  to  come  up  here  and 
tell  all  we  knew,  whether  it  did  any  good  or  not. 

"  Captain  Carter  went  for  poor  old  Mr.  Strong, 
and  he  agreed  to  come  with  us.  He  told  us,  as 
we  were  coming  here,  that  the  worst  day's  work 
he  ever  did  in  his  life,  was  when  he  sold  his  girl 
Patsy,  and  said,  '  there  seems  to  be  no  end  to  the 
troubles  it  has  caused  me.'  His  wife  is  dead,  and 
he  is  so  poor  now,  that  he  has  to  live  with  one  of 
his  daughters,  and  she,  poor  woman,  is  a  widow, 
and  has  mighty  little  to  live  on. 

"I  hope  the  smoke  is  not  disagreeable,  Mrs. 
Stillman  ? 

Mrs.  Stillman  was  silent. 

"  La  me !  honey,  why  didn't  you  tell  me  that 
before  ?  Here  I  have  been  talking  and  smoking 
an  hour,  and  you,  poor  dear,  have  been  suffering 
from  the  smoke.  But  I  'm  done  now.'' 


CHAPTER    LIII. 


MR.    ST.    JOHN. 

VERY  early  the  next  morning,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  St, 
John  were  at  Mr.  Stillman's. 

"  I  see  it  clearly  now.  I  was  awake  nearly  all 
last  night  thinking  the  matter  over,  and  my  views 
are  clear  enough,  at  least,  for  my  own  purposes, 
my  dear  brother  Stillman.  I  have  been  in  error 
all  my  life  on  a  vital  question,  honestly  so ;  but 
now,  to-day,  I  am  rid  of  the  greatest  of  all  errors 
in  morals  arid  theology.  God  never  made  one 
man  to  be  the  slave  of  another.  He  intends  that 
the  whole  race  shall  be  equally  bound  and  equally 
protected  by  his  laws.  All  stand  on  a  level  before 
him,  as  He  is  the  Father  of  all  the  race," 

"Take  seats  on  the  porch  here,"  said  Mr, 
Stillman,  "  or  walk  into  the  house,  if  you  please," 

"  Oh  no,  sir,"  said  Mr.  St.  John,  leaning  against 
a  pillar  of  the  porch,  and  touching  his  forehead 
with  the  fingers  of  his  left  hand.  "  Let  me  stand 
for  a  moment,  while  I  state  my  views,  that  you 
may  see  whether  I  am  right  or  not. 

"  The  whole  race  of  man  should  obey  all  the 

(415) 


416  BELLE    SCOTT. 

commandments  that  God  has  revealed  by  means 
of  his  holy  Word.  It  is  their  duty  to  do  so  ;  and 
when  God  commands  anything  to  be  done,  he 
gives  the  right  to  obey  his  command. 

"  The  right  and  the  duty  are  both  alike  from 
God.  Human  legislation  cannot  impair  or  destroy 
the  one  or  the  other. 

"  But  as  a  man  has  the  right  to  discharge  every 
duty  required  of  him  in  the  Bible,  he  cannot  be 
a  slave ;  for  the  Bible  prescribes  all  his  duties,  and 
as  a  correlative,  secures  all  his  rights. 

"  Our  duties  commence  as  soon  as  we  know  right 
from  wrong,  and  end  only  with  our  lives,  and  ex 
tend  to  every  action ;  and  it  follows  that  our  right 
to  discharge  them  exists  every  moment,  and  in 
every  circumstance  in  which  we  may  be  placed.1' 

"I  see  that  you  understand  my  position,"  said 
Mr.  Stillman,  "and  am  glad  you  do  so.  It  is 
very  simple.  No  slave  can,  of  his  own  free  will, 
obey  the  whole  Bible.  Slavery  is  therefore  wrong, 
for  God  gave  us  the  Bible,  and  commands  every 
man  to  obey  it." 

"  It  follows,  my  dear  brother  Stillman,  that  Con 
gress  can  pass  no  law,  by  which  any  man  can  be 
compelled  to  aid  in  the  surrender  of  a  fugitive  slave. 

"It  is  a  sin,  to  hold  one  of  God's  children  as  a 
slave ;  and  therefore  it  is  a  sin  to  pursue  him, 
when  he  escapes,  and  to  aid  the  pursuers. 


Mil.    ST.    JOHN.  417 

"  Let  me  give  an  illustration  that  occurred  to 
me  last  night.  Many  negroes  in  the  South,  are 
slaveholders.  Many  of  the  slaves  are  so  nearly 
white,  that  is  impossible  to  know  they  have  any 
African  blood  in  their  veins. 

"Now,  suppose  the  case  of  a  fugitive  slave 
mother,  bearing  her  infant  daughter  in  her  arms. 
She  gets  into  a  free  state  and  dies.  The 
daughter  is  adopted  by  persons  able  to  give  her 
the  highest  culture.  She  grows  up  to  woman 
hood,  and  is  beautiful,  educated,  and  refined ;  and 
while  she  is  standing  with  the  bridegroom  at 
the  altar,  with  orange  flowers  in  her  hair,  her 
beauty  heightened  by  an  imperceptible  trace  of 
African  blood  in  her  veins ;  a  negro,  with  all  the 
most  repulsive  features  of  his  race,  exaggerated  by 
a  countenance  on  which  is  written  brutality  and 
depravity  of  the  deepest  die  —  old,  ugly,  gap- 
toothed,  wrinkled — seizes  the  bride  as  his  fugitive 
slave,  and  commands  the  bridegroom,  under  these 
laws,  to  aid  him  in  bearing  her  to  his  den  of  sin." 

"  That  is  a  horrid  picture,"  said  Mr.  Stillman. 

"  It  is  indeed ;  but,  my  dear  Mr.  Stillman,  no 
man  knows  better  than  you  do,  that  the  sin  and 
shame  of  the  act,  are  not  affected  by  the  color  of 
the  actor  or  of  his  victim. 

"  I  have  thought  of  another  case,  my  dear 
brother  Stillman. 


418  BELLE    SCOTT. 

"  A  mother  escapes  with  her  boy,  who  grows 
:ip  to  manhood,  and  is  a  faithful  minister  of  the 
Gospel.  He  gathers  around  him  a  congregation, 
who  have  been  brought  by  his  agency,  into  the 
fold  of  Christ ;  and  while  he  is  administering  to 
them  the  communion  of  his  broken  body  and  shed 
blood,  the  master  enters  the  church,  drags  him 
from  the  altar  of  God,  and  commands  the  con 
gregation  to  aid  him,  under  this  law,  in  taking 
the  slave  back  into  bondage." 

"  I  see,  my  dear  brother,"  said  Mr   Stillman,' 
"  that  you  are  thoroughly  converted. 

"  It  is  all  very  simple ;  slave-holding  is  a  sin, 
and  laws  can  no  more  make  it  right,  than  they 
can  make  the  polygamy  of  the  Mormons  right. 

uLaw  is  a  rule  of  action  prescribed  by  the 
superior,  and  which  the  citizen  or  subject  is  bound 
to  obey.  Legislation  has  no  more  authority  to 
compel  men  to  sin,  than  it  has  power  to  dethrone 
God. 

"  The  whole  legislative  power  of  the  world, 
cannot  make  it  the  duty  of  any  man  to  sin;  anil 
can  make  no  rule  for  the  control  of  his  conduct, 
which  will  require  him  to  commit  any  crime 
against  man." 

"  I  am  glad,  my  dear  brother,"  said  Mr.  Still 
man,  "  that  your  opinions  are  changed. 

"  The  fugitive  slave  laws  cannot  be  executed 


MR.    ST.    JOHN.  419 

without  destroying  religious  liberty.  The  same 
blow  which  strikes  down  the  religious  freedom  of 
the  northern  judge,  lights  with  equal  force  on  the 
rights  of  the  southern  planter. 

"  We  do  not  deprive  the  planter  of  any  right, 
when  we  refuse  to  surrender  his  fugitive  slave ;  on 
the  contrary,  we  secure  to  him  his  highest  and 
greatest,  and  what  should  be,  his  dearest  right — 
his  liberty  of  conscience. 

"We  preserve  this  Union  by  refusing,  upon 
this  principle,  to  make  such  surrender ;  and  we  do 
even  more  than  that,  we  keep  the  Union  as  our 
fathers  made  it — a  Union  worth  preserving. 

"  The  religious  principles  of  all  nations  lie  near 
est  their  hearts  and  deepest  in  their  affections. 
All  history  shows  that  he  who  tampers  with  this 
sentiment  of  the  people,  uncaps  a  volcano.  It  is 
the  last  right  that  any  people  will,  knowingly, 
submit  to  have  wrested  from,  them, 

"If  the  people  of  the  free  states  shall  really 
be  convinced  that  their  right  of  religious  liberty 
is  impaired  by  these  acts  of  Congress,  no  power 
on  earth  can  prevent  them  from  throwing  off 
such  fetters.  Many  will  do  it  at  the  sacrifice  of 
everything  that  hinders  them  in  their  efforts  to 
be  free. 

"  But  now,  my  dear  brother,  as  the  acts  are 
merely  void,  nothing  need  be  sacrificed  to  secure 


420  BELLE    SCOTT. 

the  right.  It  is  safe.  Our  fathers,  under  God, 
have  made  it  so ;  and  we  have  but  to  adhere  to  the 
Constitution  as  it  is,  to  have  the  free  exercise  of 
religion." 

"True,  very  true,"  said  Mr.  St.  John. 

"Well,"  said  Mrs.  St.  John,  "honey,  what  will 
you  do  now  with  old  Aunt  Polly  ?  She  is  your 
slave.  What 's  mine  is  yours,  you  know." 

"  I  will  set  her  free.  The  purpose  is  now  fully 
formed  in  my  heart  to  do  it,  as  soon  as  I  can 
execute  the  necessary  papers,  and  bring  her  to  a 
free  state." 

"  Oh,  dear  me !  I  do  wonder  what  the  old  wo 
man  will  say,  when  she  hears  it;  won't  she  be 
scared  though  ?  I've  seen  her  cryin',  honey,  and 
heard  her  say  many  a  time,  and  when  I  axed  her, 
*  What  ails  you,  Polly  ? '  she  wiped  her  eyes  with 
her  apron,  and  said,  'Missis  you's  mighty  good 
to  me,  but  it  'pears  hard  for  a  person  to  be  a 
slave;  and  her  master  to  sell  off  all  her 
children.' 

"  But  I  never  sold  one  of  'em.  They  was  all 
sold,  afore  I  bought  her." 

"  You  concur  very  cheerfully  in  the  views  of 
your  husband,"  said  Mr.  Stillman  with  a  smile. 

"  Oh  yes,  honey !  I  always  does.  You  know, 
the  Queen  of  Sheba  wrote  to  Solomon,  that  a 
woman  ought  always  to  let  her  husband  do  all 


MRS.    ST.    JOHN.  421 

the  thinking,  and  other  out-door  business,  while 
she  cooks  the  victuals,  and  makes  clothes." 

"  The  Queen  of  Sheba,  my  dear  ?  "  said  Mr.  St. 
John,  "  where  did  you  learn  that  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  I  learnt  it  either  in  the  book  of  Paul 
or  Solomon,  I  don't  care  which,  its  good  Gospel 
wherever  you  find  it.  It  saves  a  heap  of  trouble 
to  the  women,  and  pleases  the  men  folks." 


CHAPTER     LI  V. 


DEATH    OF    BELLE. 

BELLE,  wasted  to  a  skeleton,  was  rapidly  sink 
ing  to  her  grave.  Consumption  was  doing  its 
steady  work  upon  her ;  her  countenance  was  bright 
with  hope,  and  at  times,  was  almost  radiant  with 
light  and  love,  to  all  around  and  above  her.  She 
was  on  the  very  verge  of  heaven,  and  knew  that 
angels  were  holding  over  her  a  golden  crown, 
richer  and  brighter  than  earthly  monarch  ever 
wore,  and  that  her  poor  aching  head,  was  nearly 
ready  to  wear  it  forever. 

Mr.  Stillman  had  encountered  the  rebuke  of 
part  of  the  members  of  his  church,  but  he  was  both 
kind  and  firm,  and  those  who  at  first  were  most 
opposed  to  his  course,  were  now  sorry  for  their  con 
duct  ;  while  others,  and  they  comprised  the  great 
portion  of  the  best  members  of  his  church,  grasped 
his  hand  more  warmly  and  loved  him  with  deeper 
fervor,  and  were  the  most  attentive  listeners  to 
his  discourses.  The  cloud  had  passed  away — the 
sunshine  came  again  with  redoubled  brightness 
and  warmth.  His  church  soon  acquired  the  name 

(422) 


DEATH    OF    BELLE,  423 

of  the  'Abolition  Church;'  but  all  the  members  were 
still  as  cheerful  and  happy,  as  full  of  love  and 
goodness  as  they  were  when  no  such  reproaches 
were  cast  upon  them.  They  admitted  that, 
if  by  "abolition,"  is  meant,  "the  application 
of  Christianity  to  the  sin  of  slave-holding"  the 
charge  is  true. 

An  attorney  was  one  day  sent  for  by  Belle, 
while  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stillman  were  absent  on  a  visit 
to  a  sick  person,  who  wrote,  at  her  dictation,  several 
sheets  of  paper,  which  she  signed,  and  others  also 
signed  it,  who  had  been  invited  in  by  the  attorney; 
after  all  was  rightly  done,  he  took  the  paper,  care 
fully  sealed  up,  with  him. 

A  week  afterward  the  bell  of  the  little  church 
tolled,  and  people  went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Still 
man,  and  a  procession  of  friends  followed  the  re 
mains  of  poor  Belle  to  her  resting-place.  The  red 
earth,  in  which  they  let  down  the  coffin,  seemed 
a  bed  of  roses,  for  she  who  slept  there,  slept  in 
peace. 

Two  or  three  days  after  the  burial,  the  attorney 
called  on  Mr.  Stillman,  and  told  him  that  Belle 
had  made  her  will,  and  left  it  in  his  care  :  witnesses 
were  taken,  and  it  was  duly  proved ;  in  the  first 
passage  in  it  she  made  full  provision  for  those 
who  were  once  her  slaves,  and  directed  that  they 
should  be  taken  to  a  free  state. 


424  BELLE    SCOTT. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stillman  were  by  no  means  for 
gotten.  They  were  abundantly  rewarded  for  all 
their  care,  as  far  as  a  generous  bequest  in  money 
could  do  so.  They  received  thousands  of  dollars — • 
enough  to  supply  all  their  wants. 

Mr.  Hulbert,  and  all  who  assisted  at  the  fire, 
too,  were  generously  remembered.  Mrs.  Johnston 
(now  no  longer  Mrs.  Johnston,)  had  a  very  hand 
some  addition  made  to  her  already  ample  fortune. 

Poor  Belle  faded,  as  fades  a  sweet  and  lovely 
flower,  whose  fragrance  still  fills  the  air  with  per 
fume,  and  gladdens  the  heart. 


CHAPTER    L  V. 


MRS.    REED. 

OUR  narrative  must  now  close.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Reed,  formerly  Mrs.  Johnston,  are  married  and 
living  near  Cleveland,  Ohio.  They  have  a  beau 
tiful  mansion  and  a  farm,  and  are  contented  and 
happy.  Mr.  Reed  has  retired  from  his  business 
as  a  printer,  and  is  now  a  farmer ;  one  of  that 
kind  who  reads  books  on  farming,  and  talks  of  the 
best  kinds  of  wheat,  and  the  improvement  of  agri 
culture  and  horticulture,  and  the  arts  and  sciences 
in  general.  He  is  a  warm  friend  of  freedom,  and 
his  voice  is  often  heard  urging  his  neighbors  to 
vote  for  God  and  for  Liberty. 

Mrs.  Reed  is  the  same  dear,  kind-hearted  little 
woman  that  she  ever  was ;  with  a  smile  always  on 
her  face.  She  is  still  more  an  Abolitionist  than 
when  we  first  saw  her,  and  is  strongly  inclined  to 
support  the  doctrine  of  woman's  rights. 

The  courtship  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reed  would  have 
been  recorded  for  the  especial  benefit  of  the  young, 
but  she  saw  the  sheets  after  they  had  been  written, 
and  seized,  and  still  detains  them.  She  says  it 

(425) 


426  BELLE   SCOTT. 

is  one  of  her  rights,  that  her  love-affairs  shall  be 
kept  secret,  unless  she  herself  shall  choose  to  dis 
close  them.  She  insists  upon  it  so  strongly,  and 
supports  her  claim  with  so  many  plausible  argu 
ments,  smiling  all  the  time,  and  yet  so  earnestly, 
that  it  is  really  impossible  to  withstand  her  ap 
peals.  We  regret  it,  but  where  a  lady  is  so  firm 
in  her  purpose,  it  is  difficult  indeed,  to  do  what 
she  forbids. 

She  says  that  Mr.  John  Scott  was  a  wicked 
man,  but  she  always  adds,  (standing  erect,  and 
extending  her  finger,  her  blue  eyes  flashing  as 
she  speaks,)  "  THAT  EVERY  SLAVE-OWNER  HOLDS  HIS 
BROTHER'S  CHILD  IN  BONDAGE  ! " 


THE     END 


